Miraculous Ladybug Snippets
by carnatiously
Summary: A collection of short stories exploring the lives of our favorite Parisian friends and co! Includes reveals, angst, fluff, AUs, and more. Chapter 58: Rena Rouge: Superhero and Mom Friend. Chat's life is in danger like never before.
1. Doppelganger Duo

You're going to berate me for this.. but.. I promise to make a legit one later on XD ...

"Adrien."

The boy's head snapped up from his breakfast at the end of a long table to his father's assistant, Nathalie. She was holding a tablet, like always.

"What is it, Nathalie?" The woman looked back down at her tablet and swiped a few times with her stylus before returning her glasses-clad gaze to him. "Your father has made a few requests of you."  
Adrien's shoulders slumped in his seat and he went back to picking at his breakfast. Nothing new there..

"It's nothing too big. He decided to set up a special winter photoshoot so you could model his winter line. However, he's giving you the opportunity to pick a girl to model his female clothing for the winter line."  
Adrien shrugged. Maybe it was a convenience, but it was all for work. "I'll see," the blonde meekly replied.  
Nathalie began to turn back, but seemed to remember one more thing. "You have one week," she informed. "Otherwise, your father will have to pick for you."

Adrien lowered his gaze. "Got it."

As Nathalie left, Adrien whipped out his phone which must have buzzed at LEAST a million times while Nathalie was speaking to him. With only a spike of annoyance, but mostly amusement, Adrien read over Nino's text messages.

'ughh, dude. it is so freaking COLD today. help me'  
'our heating decided to conveniently stop working in the middle of november.i swear i'll be a popsicle or something by the end of today'  
'so hows your day'  
'hope its better than mine'  
'dude'  
'hello'  
'hellooohello'  
'hellhello'  
'BRO, I KNOW YOUR PHONE IS ALWAYS WITH YOU'

Adrien rolled his eyes before texting back.

'Calm down! Nathalie was telling me something. Oh and about that. My day is not going any better than yours :/'

He tapped 'SEND' before grabbing his duffelbag and going outside to get into the limousine that Gorilla drove.

Nino didn't text back the whole car ride, and when Adrien finally got out and walked up the stairs to the school building, Nino was leaning against a pillar with a solemn look on his face. Well, as solemn as he could go, anyways.

"What's it this time, dude?"  
Adrien adjusted the grip on his duffel bag and ran a hand through his hair, sheepishly laughing. "It's not that bad. We're just doing another huge photoshoot for my dad's winter line and I have to pick a girl to model the female clothes."  
Nino instantly perked up, interested. "A girl, you say?" (Nino was aware of Marinette's undying crush because of Alya.. maybe he could help guide Adrien in the right direction, yeah?)  
Adrien sighed. "Yeah. I've got no idea, and father will pick if I don't know by the end of this week." Adrien gagged. "Knowing my luck, it'll be Chloe."  
Nino also gagged. Blonde-haired beast..

Now, Adrien had ONE girl in mind, but her? She'd be out of the question.

Ladybug already had tons of things on her schedule, and MODELING? That was not one of them.

..Or so Adrien thought.

Nino grinned, fixing his cap and shoving his hands in his coat-pockets. The cold winter air bit at the two boys' skin and people around them laughed as they threw snowballs. It was a nice November day.

"Hmm, I've got someone PERFECT in mind, bro. You'll love it."  
Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Who?"  
Nino's grin got bigger. "How about I give you some hints? She's got these blue eyes. Like, REALLY blue."

Ladybug instantly entered Adrien's mind. He shoved her out; He couldn't be thinking about that. "Lots of people have blue eyes, Nino. Chloe has blue eyes." Adrien shuddered.  
Nino face-palmed. "Okay, but that's just blue. HER eyes are blue-blue."  
Adrien rolled his eyes. "Can't you just tell me her name?"

Nino shook his head, muttering something along the lines of "you're hopeless".  
He tried again. "Okay, she's got dark hair."

Ladybug has da- Damnit!  
Adrien raised his brow. "O-kaaay..?"

Nino bit down his groan. He'd have to be patient; He'd spell out Marinette if it came down to that!  
"She wears them in two low pigtails?"

Ladybug again. Adrien started suspecting Nino; was he actually suggesting Ladybug, or what?

"She's about.." Nino put his hand in the air, just above the tip of Adrien's nose. "This tall."

Ladybug is that tall! Adrien cleared his throat to cut Nino off; he'd have to tell him that Ladybug wasn't an option. All the signs obviously pointed to her; Blue eyes, dark hair in low pigtails, her height..

"Sorry, Nino, but I'm not asking Ladybug to model clothes!"

Nino looked utterly confused. "Lady- what, no! I'm talking about Mari...nette.."

Both boys' eyes popped wide open as they came to the same realization.

...Marinette was Ladybug's doppleganger?! 


	2. Kim vs Box

Next chapter will be a full, 2000+ words episode, so look forward to that! :D R&R as well ('o')

Also, I'd like to get one point across: Since I use Notepad to write my stories, I don't have any italics or bold. So when a character (or me) emphasizes something, it will be in all caps. I know it seems like yelling, but alas :/

~In this snippet, Miss. Bustier's class comes to realize how freaking ripped Marinette really is.~

"Oof!" Miss. Bustier stopped short from the classroom door, kneeling and panting. Hell, even PUSHING this damn box was taking up all her energy. A lock of hair stuck to 's cheek from the sweat. Just thinking about having to hoist this thing up onto her desk made Miss. Bustier want to cry.

For a while now, Miss. Bustier's class had been hearing the occasional "oof" and "agh!". Curiousity finally got the best of them and they all crowded up at the door to see why their teacher hadn't arrived when the bell had rung 13 minutes ago.

A huge cardboard box seemed to be guilty for taking up the teacher's time. Miss. Bustier was currently on the ground on all fours. She was panting heavily, and drips of sweat rolled off her forehead onto the ground just inches below.

.. What even?

Everyone spilled out of the classroom and fanned out in front of Miss. Bustier. "What happened?" Alix exclaimed.

Max snuck a look at his (legendary) watch. "According to statistics, there's a 67.32 chance that this box right here is too heavy for Miss. Bustier and she's having a hard time in moving it."  
Nino's eyebrow rose. "What's IN that thing?"  
Miss Bustier put a finger up, biding for a little more time to gulp in more oxygen. After a few moments, she looked up. "New.. textbooks.. because your tablets are running out of space."  
She said that last part very fast.

Some groaned at the thought of having to carry around a big old textbook, but Kim rolled up his already short sleeves and flexed his muscles (or what muscles he had).

"Don't worry, Miss. Bustier. I can carry that box in, no problem."  
The class was slightly skeptical, but stepped back anyways as Kim kneeled down and rubbed his palms together. Miss. Bustier sat back and stared at Kim. "I assure you.. it's much heavier than it looks, Kim."  
Kim gave a "pfft". "No matter. See these guns?" He flexed his muscles again. "These were MADE for heavyweights."  
Miss. Bustier raised her eyebrow and shurgged. It'd be worth a try, yeah?

Kim reached down and gripped the box from its sides. He began to heave up..

..And instantly stopped not a second later, looking at the box in confusion. "I got my grip wrong.." Kim mumbled as he moved around the box to grab it from a different place. Nino snickered. "I see your guns, dude."  
Kim glared at him before trying again. And again. And again.

It was already 20 minutes into class when Kim collapsed on the ground, panting. "That box.. is an alien," he declared between breaths.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

Marinette meekly stepped forward and eyed the box. They were wasting time already, she could just brush the questions off and say she was used to handling flour in the bakery, yeah?  
"I'll try," Marinette affirmed.

Chloe snorted and Sabrina instantly did the same right after, wanting to follow in her "idol's" steps. "You? Marinette, your arms are punier than this lock of hair." Chloe held up one of the locks that hung on the side of her face and snickered at her joke, obviously pleased.

Marinette narrowed her eyes and ignored Chloe, stepping forward besides the panting Kim and Miss. Bustier. She eyed the box. Kim laughed breathlessly. "Sorry, Marinette," he stated, "if I can't, YOU can't."

Marinette placed her hands on her hips and smirked. "Let's see about that!"

Adrien, meanwhile, was surprised at this outcome. He had thought about helping move the box in, but how would he cover up? It's not like modeling did anything to help build up muscles..  
Well, there WAS fencing, but nobody would buy that. Fencing was all about agility.

Just when Adrien had thought about cutting the sturggling Kim off and help anyways, no matter the consequences, Kim gave up and Marinette volunteered. MARINETTE, of all people. How strange!

He wasn't expecting what happened next. NOBODY could have expected it. Well, they could have. But they didn't.

Marinette hoisted the box up with ease and propped one knee under to balance it before putting her foot down. Kim's jaw was agape. No doubt, Alya's phone had been whipped out from the beginning of this whole mess and now she was zooming into Marinette's hands holding the box. Zooming in, extremely close. Whispering commentary.

Marinette adjusted her grip on the bottom of the box. She peered over the top. "Wow, this IS pretty heavy. Better put it down fast.."  
Mainrette rushed back to the classroom, wobbling only slightly. Everyone stayed where they were and blankly stared after Marinette, unmoving.  
Moments later, they heard a loud 'THUMP'. Everyone snapped out of their stupor and rushed into the classroom, preparing to bombard Marinette with questions. All except Miss. Bustier and Kim.

Miss. Bustier was shocked, but she was nothing compared to Kim.

It took quite a while for him to put his shattered dignity back together. 


	3. Pound it!

Ahh! I know I promised the 2000+ episode chapter, but it will take a little longer than I had hoped and I want to keep my updates frequent ('-') So, in the meantime, enjoy this little snippet! :D P.S: I will eat up your requests like they are the best food ever. There's only so many ideas this brain has, you know?

~In this snippet, Adrien and Marinette accidentally do the traditional 'pound-it' fist bump..~ (inspired by a comic)  
...

"Adrien and Marinette are late? AGAIN?" Mrs. Boustier sighed as she checked the two students' names off of her board. This was the second absence this week for both of them, and today was Tuesday!

Just moments later, as everyone predicted, Marinette slammed the door open and tripped on her way in. Adrien followed not seconds after, but at least he didn't trip. Mrs. Boustier stood in front of Adrien and Marinette, looking down at Marinette who was sprawled over the ground, and raised an eyebrow. She tapped her foot.

"I hope you have an excuse." Mrs. Boustier lied. Of course she didn't hope for such a thing. Last week, Marinette had resorted to "distant friend's uncle's sister's dog's past owner's cousin-three-times-removed-two-times-put-back's funeral".

Well, at the very least, Adrien didn't do such a thing, but he was just as late.  
On the same days.  
At the same time.  
Odd, right?

Mrs. Boustier sighed instead, turning back to the class. "I'll have to let you off this time. We're lacking time as it is. You two will have to be paired up."

This instantly set about a commotion; Mostly from a certain blonde, who kept complaining that "that treachery MUST have held up poor Adrikins so they could be paired up! Miss. Boustier, this is a crime. In. ACTION!"

It wasn't just the blonde-haired beast, though; Alya was feeling eminent for her accomplishment, which was actually non-existent.  
Nino was mostly silent, although he cheered a LITTLE (that's what he said) when Marinette got paired up with his dense-as-hell bro.

Apart from these three (and Sabrina, who was following in her idol's footsteps), no one was making such a fuss. But hey, those three were more than enough to start a racket.

"Silence, please!" Mrs. Boustier turned to the two absentees. "Our class is doing partner fictional-narratives. We're using all our tactics that we've learned over the past few weeks and compiling them into a story." The woman walked back to her desk and returned to her chair. "You have one week for this project."

A red-faced Marinette and (normal, because he's utterly PERFECT) Adrien reutrned to their seats. Alya nudged Marinette. "Girlll!" She snickered. "Did you get lucky, or what? I'd have thought you were being late on purpose or something." Alya smirked.  
Marinette's face turned a deeper shade of crimson and she wildly waved her hands in front of her face and began to blubber. "What- no, Alya wouldn't I- I mean I never would do a thing such- such a thing as like that- like that, as horrible as-"

Alya laughed and shushed the frantic girl with her finger. "I was joking, girl! Get your priorities in order!"

Alya sounded SO MUCH like Tikki then, that all Marinette could do was stare, dumbfounded.  
~ At the end of class, when the bell rang, Adrien twisted around in his seat to watch Marinette as she packed up. He (unknowingly) sent a charming smile her way as she, undoubtedly, lost her ability to communicate in that moment. Alya sighed and rolled her eyes.

"This'll be fun, huh? I can come over to yours to work, if you'd like?" (Now, he was secretly and- admittedly- a TEENSY bit selfishly trying to go over to get to taste some croissants and cookies which had been passed over the last time he was at Marinette's house. But that wasn't the whole reason, no! He wasn't THAT bad...)

Marinette's mind instantly filled up with millions of procedures. (Oh, gosh. Take down all the posters. Change your wallpaper. Rip out his schedule from your slide-chart. Change your ringtone from his voice that you secretly recorded..)

Alya offered a sharp jab to Marinette's side. Marinette snapped out of her stupor. "Oh, sorry I am! I mean, I'm sorry! Yeah! I mean, yeah, we see about the- about the going to my house thing..." Marinette turned around and smacked her head in one split second before turning back to him with a large, artificial grin.  
Adrien smiled softly, amused by her mix-up in words (and slightly skeptical about her behaviour). "Okay then! See you tomorrow!" Adrien grabbed his bag and casually swung it around his shoulder before strolling out of the classroom. Marinette kept giddily waving until Alya slapped her hand away. "Girl, girl, girl." Alya sighed, trying to keep the smile off of her face and failing epically.

~ In the first day, Marinette had been something which could be described, kindly, as a "hopeless wreck". However, day by day, things started to go smoothly for her and she was ACTUALLY able to communicate with Adrien like a NORMAL HUMAN would. She was also surprised to find that they were quite in sync, like they had been working together for a long time, but - well, duh! Adrien was good at anything, right? (well, according to Marinette)

In the end, their story wasn't too overly sci-fi- like a CERTAIN smart someone with a legendary watch, and his partner-, or overly infatuated with sports, like Kim and his partner. Instead, it was a light little story with extreme irony and humor.

Mrs. Bustier read everyone's stories out loud to the class, for peer judgement. When Mrs. Bustier read their story out loud, she had to take pauses and breaks to keep her laughter in before she could continue.

After their story had been read- with a HILARIOUS ending line, something to do with dopplegangers-, Mrs. Bustier and her class clapped enthusiastically. Mrs. Bustier wiped away a small tear as she handed back the story to a grinning Marinette and Adrien. She smiled. "Full scores, both of you. Maybe it's good to put you together after all, hm?"

Marinette and Adrien beamed. Without thinking, they both turned to each other and their hands met in a fist-bump. "Pound-it!"  
"Pound-it!"

..Nobody made anything of this fist-bump. After all, it was just a little victory-teamwork thing, right? Adrien and Marinette didn't realize what had happened until they looked down at their hands, met ina fist bump, and their words seemed to echo in their heads.

Pound it. I said pound it.  
I said pound it. Pound it. It has been pounded. I have declared that it has been pounded. Said noun has been pounded. I pounded it. Pound. It. ..HOLY CRAP WHAT DID I-

Marinette and Adrien forced the actor in them to crank their hands down (it kind of looked like a robot's movement to everyone else) and they wrenched smiles onto their faces.  
"Ahaha.. I mean.. good job..!" Marinette giggled, trying to be normal and failing.  
"Y-You too! That story was.. haha.."

They both instantaneously turned away in opposite directions and marched off. Marinette ended up taking a detour around one hlaf of the class to get to her seat.

Later that day, Marinette and Adrien came to their own conclusions. They began to laugh at their panic and stupidity; it was obvious as day! All the signs pointed to it; How could they not have seen before?!

'Marinette is obviously a Ladybug and Chat Noir fan', Adrien declared in his head.  
'Adrien is obviously a Ladybug and Chat Noir fan', Marinette silently confirmed. 


	4. Disaster Baker

What are episodes? Basically they're things which could possibly happen in the show. Not that they will (laugh laugh) but what I mean is that the formatting for the fight, the mood, the cliche-ness of it all- it's the same here :)  
P.S: Normally I wouldn't use a character that has been akumatized once already, but I started this before "Princess Fragrance" so this one is featuring Rose.

Episode 1~ Disaster-Baker

"Marinette!" A voice familiar to the dark-haired girl wafted up to her room. She blinked, recognizing her name, and called back down. "Yes, Maman! I'm coming!"  
Marinette closed her diary shut, locked it in the box while capping her pen and putting it away, and opened the door in the ground to her room, running downstairs to the bakery where Sabine and Tom waited. Marinette straightened up. "Yes, Maman, Papa? What is it?"  
Tom beamed and gestured to the shop. "We've decided to make an industrial revolution!"  
Marinette, taken aback, eyed them warily. "What..?"  
Sabine sighed, rolling her eyes. "He's overdoing it. We're starting lessons for people to bake here!" She smiled.  
Marinette clapped her hands together. "Really? That's great!"  
Tom nodded in pride. "Yes, yes it is! Actually, we were also thinking maybe YOU could give lessons."  
Marinette was taken aback yet again; Her parents and their antics..  
"Me? But why? I'm not as good as you guys.."  
"No, no, don't say that," Sabine tsked and shook her index finger in the air, "You're quite advanced. We feel like you're ready. Besides, your friends can come along here and learn how to bake. It'll be great for business. And, it's fun!" Sabine's eyes twinkled as she clapped her hands together.  
"Win, win, win! Triple win!" Tom exclaimed.  
Marinette giggled at her parents, covering her mouth with one hand. "Okay. I'll do it!"

~The next day at class..~

Before the morning bell could ring (Marinette actually got to school BEFORE the bell for once), Marinette took a stack of fliers out of her bag and got ready to pass them out. "Girl, what's that?" Alya peered over Marinette's shoulder to see what she was holding. Marinette turned back to speak to her best friend. "These are fliers," she explained while straightening them out. "My parents decided to start baking lessons and I'll be one of the teachers, so I'm inviting our class if they want to learn some basics."  
Alya grinned. "Really? That sounds awesome! I'd totally go to one of your lessons."  
Marinette grinned along with Alya and handed her the flier, which explained when the lessons would take place, with whom, baking what.  
Nino, in the row in front of the two girls, twisted around in his seat to look at Marinette. "Whoa, is your bakery holding lessons? Sign me up!"  
Marinette giggled and handed Nino a flier as well. Adrien, next to Nino, looked at the paper. "Oh, I remember- I ate one of their pies once. It was heaven!"  
Marinette's face flushed at the compliment. She remembered the "training" they went through. Training which consisted somewhat of croissants, cookies, and pie.  
(Akuma and Ladybug included, but only she and Tikki knew... it'd stay that way.)  
"You think so?" Marinette inwardly cheered when her stutter went away. Actually, her stutter had dwindled for the last few weeks; It was like a heavy weight lifted off of her shoulders. Especially the day her Uncle Cheng visited; She actually talked like a normal person in front of Adrien.  
Adrien nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I'd like to know how you make those."  
Nino lightly elbowed Adrien in the side. "You know NOTHING if you've only eaten their pies, dude. Their cookies are, like, worth dying for."  
Alya, Marinette, and Adrien laughed at this extreme exaggeration. Marinette finally stood up and began passing a piece of paper out to each student.  
Chloe scoffed. "As if I need to know what kind of mess your grubby bakery can conjure." She flipped her blonde ponytail back, effectively smacking Mylene in the face and ignoring her complaint. "I can order the best of the best, something you are, and will stay, far from."  
Marinette gave Chloe her best glare. "Alright, then, I guess you don't need this." She waved a flier and instead handed it to Sabrina, who looked at it in interest. "Wow! Marinette's teaching a two-tier cake? I'd like-"  
Sabrina shut up when Chloe ripped the flier to pieces.

In the end, Marinette put a flier on Mrs. Bustier's desk, who didn't notice since she was writing on the whiteboard. Marinette hurried back to her seat as the bell rang.

Mrs. Bustier turned around and promptly stole a glance at the flier before returning her gaze to the students. "Now, class, today we're focusing on SHOWING, not TELLING our scenes. When you have a scene in a written work, you have to detail it so the reader can let their imagination flow. As a warm-up, I'd like you to pick a place you know well and describe it. Two paragraphs minimum."

The sound of people rifling their backpacks for paper and some groans echoed throughout the classroom. Marinette unzipped her bag and took a sheet of paper out of her binder. An elbow nudged her ribs.  
From her bent position, Marinette craned her head back to see Alya who had elbowed her. "Can I have a sheet?" She whispered, making sure Mrs. Bustier couldn't hear. It was one of Mrs. Bustier's pet peeves- when students never brought their own supplies, it ticked her off.  
Marinette nodded and took an extra sheet out for Alya. Afterwards, she slumped in her seat and rested her cheek on a hand. "What place do I write about?" Marinette mused. "I've no idea at all."  
Alya smirked. "Well, I'm writing about that museum we went to. I saw Ladybug there, close up! You of all people know that, right?"  
Marinette froze and whipped around to look at Alya, wringing her hands. "What? Why? What makes you think I'm- I mean, how should I have- how should I know again?"  
Alya rolled her eyes and sighed. "You were there WITH me? Remember?"  
Marinette's surprised expression slid off her face and she laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Oh, yeah! Of course I remember. That's why."  
She could practically hear Tikki rolling her eyes and sighing, while saying 'You need to get a hold of yourself!'  
Well, she did, but she couldn't help it.

Again, Marinette rested her cheek on a hand. Still, no idea..

She looked at the flier on Alya's desk and suddenly, the idea came to her. Of course! She could write about the bakery!

Marinette scribbled words down on her paper, tongue subconciously sticking out of one corner of her mouth. After she finished, about twenty-five minutes later, she let a small sigh escape and held it up to admire her work. Somehow, doodles had etched themselves into her paper all around the words. Alya took a peek at her paper and rolled her eyes, smiling.

The work was pretty good; Marinette set her paper down and got to work on erasing all the doodles. Twenty minutes later, the bell rang for brunch break. Everyone got up out of their seats and handed their work in to Mrs. Bustier, who kept reminding everyone to read Chapter 6 in the textbook installed into their tablets for homework.  
When Marinette put her paper in the stack Mrs. Bustier was holding, her teacher gave a smile. "I'll be sure to come by those lessons sooner or later," she claimed. "We can all learn something."  
Marinette blinked for a second, faintly surprised, and then smiled. "Be sure to come soon, Mrs. Bustier!"

Marinette walked out the door with Alya. "Wow! Your bakery is well known enough to even make a teacher wanna come, huh?"  
Marinette laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, I'm not the one who started it, so no credits to me."  
Alya nudged her. "I don't suppose you have any.. goods, right?"  
Marinette rolled her eyes and unveiled a cookie from her bag. Alya grinned and took it. "Fanks, Malinett!" She thanked through a full mouth. Marinette actually did bring extra goods for anyone who asked (except maybe Chloe), since it had become a normal sort of thing.  
Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Nino appeared and waggled his eyebrows, making the two girls laugh. "You wouldn't mind, would'cha, Marinette?"  
Marinette smiled and pushed a cookie into his hand. "Eat up, right?"  
Nino grinned. "Right! I'm actually gonna get Adrien to taste this. He hasn't lived until he tries this!"  
Marinette perked up. "A-Adrien? Hold on! Let me get a perfect one! Cookie! Cookie, I mean. That one is barely circular..." After her mini-rant Marinette realized Nino was already gone. Alya put one hand on her hip, looking at the dumbstruck Marinette. "You blubber at a mention of Adrien, girl. Calm down!"  
Marinette groaned loudly, dragging a hand up her face. "But HOW?! It's just.. I don't know.. I can't talk!"  
A new, snotty voice spoke up. "I can agree with you on THAT one thing, Marinette. Sometimes I wonder if you were taught your language right."  
Marinette gave a little "ugh" and turned around to see Chloe. "What do you want, Chloe?"  
Alya snorted, putting her hands on her hips. "If you're just here to talk, I'd rather you not. Just listening to your voice makes my head hurt."  
Chloe huffed and crossed her arms, glaring with her eyes overlaid with way, WAY too much makeup. "I wasn't talking to you. Just WHO do you think I am?!"  
Alya turned away and puckered her lips and said in a low, low voice, "A brat, maybe?"  
Marinette bit her lip to stifle her laughter.

Chloe didn't hear this and instead flipped her hair. For some reason, Marinette noted, Sabrina wasn't following her "idol" around. "I'm just here to get the shabby flier, okay? Sabrina wants one and she's in the bathroom right now so I decided to get it for her."  
Alya and Marinette almost reeled back in surprise- fortunately they didn't, but their mouths dropped open. "YOU," Alya said with emphasis, "Are getting something for your friend," Marinette finished.  
Alya raised a hand to her mouth and whispered to Marinette loud enough so Chloe could hear, "I think we're going craaaazy."  
"Hey!" Chloe snapped. "Would you give me the stupid thing? Or would you want to pass the honor of ME," she gestures to herself, "touching YOUR paper?" She shuddered for a second.  
Marinette glared at her and then shurgged, deciding she had nothing against handing over a measly flier. She knelt down and dug a piece of paper out, which Chloe snatched out of her hands. "Good," she said, smirking. "What's good?" Alya suspiciously inquired. Chloe's gaze snapped off of the paper. She narrowed her eyes and gave a 'hmph'. "What's good is that Sabrina can look at the stupid thing now." She turned on her heeland marched off, in a direction that was very much OPPOSITE the girls' bathrooms. "She's up to something," Alya hissed after the blonde was out of sight, "I can smell it in the air. There's no way she'd do anything for anyone, even her best friend." She suddenly gasped. "She's gonna sabotage your bakery! I can tell!"  
Marinette got up and placed her hands on Alya's shoulders, willing her to calm down. "She wouldn't be able to get away with that." Marinette meekly comforted the buzzing redhead. "Besides, she'd be spotted. If she's planning anything, it'll either fail or not be worth it."  
Alya exhaled, shrugging Marinette's hands off. The comforting had worked. "Alright, then." Her face suddenly split into a grin. "How about a look at my blog? I got a killer update."

While Alya showed Marinette the new feature on her phone, Chloe slinked away behind the one of the school's walls and cackled with Sabrina, who had been waiting.  
Chloe finally calmed down, smirking. "Too bad there's no real damage that can be done. But I can still stop Adrikins from going to that horrid bakery!"  
Sabrina clapped. "You're so smart, Chloe!" She squealed.  
"Well, DUH," Chloe haughtily (and oh so intelligibly) replied.

The two girls kept giggling until brunch came to an end.

~After school..~

Marinette sighed and smiled, giving one last look-over to her flier. It was pretty well done; and, considering how well known their bakery was, Marinette was sure business would boom.

Not literally, but still.

She walked past the park, where, to her dismay, there was no posing Adrien, and ran the rest of the way back to the bakery, sizzling with energy. Today would be a good day, she could feel it!

Well, if good counted as a daily fight with a villain, having to deal with a snobby blonde, and most likely making up a story to cover up the absence of normal civilian Marinette.  
But those were just daily things, right? Right.

When she was just a block away from the bakery, Marinette slowed to a walk and opened her purse to allow Tikki to zoom out to speak with her. "I'm sure the baking lessons will be a blast, Marinette!" The little red fairy gazed at Marinette through huge black eyes.  
Marinette grinned at her little friend. "Thanks, Tikki! But there's one thing.." Marinette put a finger to her lips and her eyebrows scrunched in thought. "How will I balance lessons, school, AND being Ladybug?" Marinette ground her teeth. "I might have no time, and then get dark circles under my eyes, and then Adrien would be grossed out by me, and I'd be a loner forever who would be known for their ugly black eyes and looking at pictures of a perfect model who wasn't anywhere near their level and- TIKKI! My life is ruined!"  
Marinette dramatically leaned against the wall of a building. Tikki sighed and zoomed towards her sulking master's face. "Marinette," she comforted, "You won't get circles under your eyes and you won't be forever alone. You just need to find out the right way to balance everything! Besides, you only have two lessons a day. If you can handle these baking lessons, being Ladybug would become a cinch!" The enthusiastic little kwami snuggled against Marinette's face, whom wholeheartedly returned the gesture. "Okay, Tikki," Marinette stood up and brushed herself off,"I'll have to get home quick. My lessons start soon!"  
"Go for it, Marinette!" Tikki pumped a tiny fist in the air before zooming back into Marinette's purse.  
Marinette resumed her running and made it to the bakery in three minutes.

As soon as she opened the door to the bakery, she was greeted with..

..Kim and Max.  
Huh?

Marinette stopped in her tracks. "Oh, hey guys!" She peered around their forms. "Did my parents not get your order yet?"  
"Huh? We didn't order," Kim informed.  
Max checked his (infamous) watch. "We came approximately 12.82 minutes early to ensure that we'd be able to get lessons."  
Marinette's face morphed into one of shock; Her eyes wide as saucers and her cheeks sunk into a fish-face. "You wanted to come for lessons?" She said disbelievingly. She didn't think they'd be THAT popular.  
"Well, duh." Kim took out a flier from who-knows-where and held it up to Marinette. "They start today, don't they? You passed out fliers."  
Marinette straightened up and rubbed the back of her neck, awkwardly laughing. She'd probably made herself look stupid again... Marinette mentally slapped herself.  
"Oh, yeah, indeed! It's just, I didn't think anyone would come so soon.." She peered at the two unexpected visitors. "Especially you two?"  
"Hey, now," Max pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and folds his hands behind his back, "We love baking as much as the next person."  
Marinette shrugged. "Okay, then, who are you here to learn from? I'll go set up. Oh, and if you don't mind...?"  
Max held out two 10-bills. "We were hoping to learn the two-tier cake from you," Kim says to Marinette's shock yet again. "Since we know you better and all.."  
Marinette blinked and half-heartedly smiled before taking the bills.

After Marinette set up, she went through an hour and a half of what, she wouldn't admit too soon, real fun. The two boys were surprisingly enthusiastic about the cake; They both worked on one together. Marinette's cheeks hurt from laughing at all the times they'd squirted frosting on to the other, or panicked when they thought they'd messed up, or had their eyes pop out in surprise when a cloud of flour went up.

In the end, Kim and Max's two tier cake turned out to be an.. odd thing, to say the least, with splotches of red and green fondue and designs scribbled on in black frosting that was sloppy and consisted of physics and sports (mostly running). Nonetheless, the boys looked on proudly at the work. All the flour caked on their hands and face and frosting smeared on their arms proved their work. Marinette's cake, which was only one layer and used to demonstrate frosting techniques, was sitting besides the boys' cake. Effectively making it seem worse by the second with its pristine neatness and immaculate frosting.  
Marinette boxed the boys' cake as well as her own, which she handed over to Max. She brushed her hands off. "Thanks, Marinette!" Max managed from behind the box wobbling in his hands. He silently wondered how the heck Marinette had held the box. His arms were already straining..  
"That was fun," Kim admitted from beside him.  
Marinette grinned. "No problem! It was fun for me too." She bid the two farewell as she closed the door behind them, watching the box wobble in Max's hands continuously. Why she hadn't handed the box to Kim, she didn't know.

From the next day on, Alya lounged around at the bakery with Marinette. After trying to bake something, and almost exploding the oven (don't ask how) she declared that the only thing she'd ever do associated with baking was eating the goods.

Marinette wasted no time in agreeing with her, for the safety of the bakery.

Business boomed, and Marinette was surprised (in a giddy way). Many people came every day, mostly to learn from her parents, but her classmates came to learn from her. First it was Kim and Max, then Ivan and Mylene came, Nino had come, Nathtaneal had came in with a redder than red face, and many more after that.

Chloe and Sabrina hadn't come yet, but that definitely wasn't something anyone was complaining about.

What Marinette didn't know was, the fated day was arriving... Something she simply could not prepare for, a VERY big deal...

Adrien was coming for a lesson.

~Elsewhere..~

Adrien laughed at Nino's joke as the two boys walked to Marinette's bakery. Nino had insisted that he wanted to come; Something about wanting to see Marinette and hearing that Alya was there and it'd be fun with the four of them, but Adrien suspected that he wanted to snag a treat.  
Well, either way, Adrien definitely wasn't complaining. He'd actually thought about asking Nino to come with him.

"I'm pretty excited," Adrien admitted to his lanky friend. "I bet making the food is as fun as eating it, right?"  
Nino grinned. "Nah-" Adrien was surprised. "-with Marinette, making it is a little more fun."  
Adrien blinked and then grinned too. He was really looking forward to this; An afternoon spent with his friends baking rather than photoshoots and Chinese and fencing was awesome. Nathalie had, however reluctantly, managed to get him a free day by consulting with Adrien's father.

They were one block away when the most stuck up, makeup-painted snobby face appeared in front of them.

You know it- Chloe Bourgeois.  
And her only friend, Sabrina.

Chloe dramatically wailed and clung to Adrien's arm, who fought off every instinct to shove her off. Adrien awkwardly glanced at Nino for help, whom in return gave a shrug.  
Chloe peered up at Adrien through her thick, mascara-crusted lashes. "Adrikins," she whined, "don't tell me you're going to that horrid, disgusting.. place!" (didn't have the intelligence required to think of an insult within ten seconds)  
Adrien slipped his arm out of Chloe's embrace, who was righted by Sabrina before she could fall. "What place?" Adrien tried to ask as meekly as possible.  
Chloe put one hand on her hip and pointed in a general direction behind her. She scowled. "That disgusting bakery!"  
Adrien reeled back; He got surprised at his anger. Chloe didn't have any respect, for anything.  
Nino plainly agreed. "Hey! What makes you think their bakery is disgusting?" He spat out the last word. "Clearly, you have no taste or social knowledge. They make the best bread in Paris."  
Chloe put one hand to her chest and gaped. "Excuse me?! My daddy is the mayor of Paris! I have as much sociality as you do love for sweets!" Her lip twitched. "That explains the belly."  
Nino said in a hushed tone so only Adrien could hear, "You look heavier than me."  
Adrien had to snort to cover his laughter, which he had to pretend was a cough.

Adrien cleared his throat and put his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, Chloe, but we're going. We've got the money for lessons and everything."  
Chloe sneered at Nino, as if it was his fault that the money was brought. Then she returned her gaze to Adrien and began fluttering her lashes a mile a minute. "Well.." Chloe now scrambled for any excuse, no matter how unbelievable. She couldn't let her precious Adrien go to that bakery!  
"I-I heard they put frog juice! As their secret ingredient, in everything."  
Chloe looked surprised after she said that. Sabrina .. she looked disappointed, even though it was her IDOL, to say the least. She didn't comment on that major trip up, though.

Adrien and Nino's faces were red from holding in their laughter. "Frog juice?" Nino snickered. "That's a new one, even for you."  
Chloe stammered for a second and then crossed her arms. Might as well go along with it.. Now that she thought about it, she could make it legit if she wanted. (or so that's what SHE thought.)  
"I'm serious!" Chloe pouted in what she thought was a cute manner.. it was actually creepy. "I hear the frogs, all the time. They- they just turn the ovens on to hide the noise!"  
The two boys decided through a shared glance that they wouldn't tell Chloe how ovens were silent. This was just too funny. Adrien cleared his throat, then resumed his walking with Nino to Chloe's shock (Sabrina, meanwhile, was expecting this no matter what she says later). "Wait!" Chloe wailed. "Didn't you hear what I JUST said?!"  
Adrien looked back and smiled. "Frog juice, huh? I bet that's what makes their food so good." Nino looked back as well and grinned. Chloe gaped at them bent over, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Sabrina patted her back to comfort her, but after a few traumatized seconds, Chloe smacked her hand away. "I'm not done yet!" Chloe ground out through her teeth. She marched back up to the boys who were well ahead of them now. "Wait!" Chloe put a hand on Adrien's shoulder, who looked back annoyed. Chloe clasped her hands and swooned. "Did I say frog juice?" Chloe loudly, too loudly, laughed. She waved a hand in the air. "I tripped up my words, I meant, erm... sulfuric acid!"  
In her mind, Chloe applauded her intelligence. (Or what very little there was of it.)  
Adrien's jaw dropped in exasperation. This was just unbelievable..! Like, seriously?!  
Chloe thought he was shocked by the grossness of the.. whatever-she-just-said acid that was put in the food. She cocked her hip out to the side. "I know, right? So gro-"  
"Dude, we're close! You know when you can smell caramel." Adrien turned away from Chloe and sniffed the air. His mouth watered.  
"Wow, it smells awesome! Let's go!" The two boys ran the rest of the way, leaving behind a flabbergasted Chloe and a confused Sabrina.

When they opened the door to the shop, Marientte was boxing a bright pink cake with occasional black swirls for Juleka and Rose. Alya was sitting on a counter and the group of girls were animatedly chatting, evidently having a good time. "Yo, guys!" Nino called out, waving. Alya looked up and grinned, waving her hand which was holding her phone.  
Marinette saw Adrien and her face suddenly burned. She fought it down. "Hey guys!" She finished boxing the cake and handed it off to Juleka, who grinned and waved like Rose before leaving with her friend.  
Marinette and Alya waved back before turning to the new visitors. "Do you want to order, or..?"  
Adrien held the money out to Marinette and smiled. "I came for a lesson. Nino came to hang out, but-" Adrien elbowed Nino in the side. "- he's probably going to snag a cookie or two."  
"Dude!" Nino complained. "There go my plans!"  
The four friends laughed, likewise for the rest of the afternoon.

Every cake that Marinette's classmates had made was unique. In the end, Adrien's, somehow, ended up reminding her of Chat Noir. How, she had no idea. Marinette was boxing the cake, laughing along with Adrien at Nino and Alya's bickering, when her eyes landed on the empty box of flour. "Oh, be right back- I gotta fill that up again." Marinette gestured to the box and her friends nodded.  
Leaving the cake unboxed, she headed back into the pantry and heaved out a bag of flour. Usually it was Tom that did these things, but due to being Ladybug, Marinette had built up some muscle. Whenever her parents questioned it, though, Marinette blamed genetics.

Marinette came back out with the bag and looked back and forth between the unboxed cake and flour.  
Nino, noticing her dilemma, offered some help. "Want me to hold the flour till you're done boxing the cake?" He offered.  
Marinette peered down at the bag in her hands, her eyes wide. "Are you sure? This bag is kind of heavy.."

Alya decided it would be funny to see Nino fall with the bag of flour- After all, she HAD been to the bakery countless times, and the way Marinette flung around bags of flour was unreal.  
If she didn't know better, she'd think Marinette was Ladybug! How silly.

Nino gave a "pshh" and waved his hand in the air. "Don't worry! I got this."  
Marinette hesitated for one more second before walking over to Nino. "Okay, this'll just be a second."  
Marinette put the bag of flour in Nino's hands. When she completely let go, Nino fell with the bag of flour. Alya laughed hard and Adrien bent down, also laughing, to help his friend up.  
After Nino had managed to get back up, and Marinette boxed the cake in a flash, she lifted up the bag of flour and Nino wheezed.  
"Am I weak, or are you just mega strong?!"  
Alya laughed. "It's the former. Her backpack weighs, like, ten tons."  
Marinette ducked her head. "Cut it out! I'm not that strong.. I'm just.. used to it?"  
Her statement came out a question.  
Now that Adrien looked, he was surprised to find fine muscle on Marinette's agile arms. Did working in the bakery really give you such a workout?

Well, there WAS Mr. Dupain, so..  
Adrien blinked, remembering the cake. He took it in his arms and waved to Marinette and Alya from behind the box. "Bye! And thanks, Marinette, that was alot of fun!"  
Marinette's reply was a jumbled heap of words. After the two boys were gone and well out of earshot, Alya teasingly nudged Marinette.  
"You do realize you just spent an entire afternoon. With Adrien?"  
Marinette dreamily nodded.. and then it struck her. SHE had just spent an ENTIRE afternoon with ADRIEN.  
Marinette's legs felt like they were going to give out. "Is he gone? I feel like I'm going to faint..!" Marinette breathed out. Alya laughed and shook her head, patting Marinette on the back. "He's gone, you can peacefully fall."

And Marinette fell.

(A/N I will admit, that inspiration came purely from the end of Guitar Villain.. *sheepish laugh*)

~Outside..~

Rose and Juleka walked back to Rose's house with the cake. Rose was far more excited about it than Juleka, considering Juleka had just tagged along and added a few designs with fondue in the end. Rose was simmering with enthusiasm and couldn't wait to show her parents the cake.

..Of course, things can't really go swimmingly when a spoiled brat and her friend who idolizes her get in the way.

And, the so-called "spoiled brat" was in an even worse mood today than other days. This time it was because she had failed, despite her genius (or so she thought) attempts, to stop Adrien from going to the bakery.  
..You've filled in the name, right? Right- Chloe Bourgeois, who the hell else?

Chloe's lip was stuck in a curled-up snarl. She marched down the sidewalk towards the direction of Marinette's bakery, which Rose and Juleka were just returning from. Chloe took one look at the cheerful pair, and the box which was so obviously from the bakery in Rose's hands, and her snarl increased ten-fold. "I can't believe it!" She snapped to nobody in particular. "YOU pair went, too? Not that I'm surprised much. A lowly pair for an even lower bakery." Rose narrowed her eyes but didn't let Chloe's lashes affect her. "Come on, Juleka," Rose said, ignoring Chloe, "There's nothing new to see here."  
Chloe growled and snatched the box out of Rose's hands to inspect it. Juleka whirled around and Rose gasped. "Give it back, Chloe! Now." Juleka said, devastatingly calm. Chloe narrowed her eyes. "What, can't I just LOOK at it? I wouldn't want to eat the thing, judging by the smell anyways." Chloe tore off the top of the cardboard box and wrinkled her nose.  
"Ew! What IS this?" She laughed and pointed at the pink and black cake. A feeble umbrella had been sticked on top by Rose, an insistent decoration.  
Rose clenched her fists and tried to take the cake back. Sabrina smirked and stood in the way while Chloe kept laughing. "This is so ugly, I don't even want to look at it anymore!" What happened next was almost in slow motion for Rose; Chloe slipped her fingers out from under the cake and it painstakingly fell onto its side on the sidewalk. Frosting splattered on the cement; The feeble umbrella tilted.  
Rose's eyes filled with tears and Juleka rushed to the box while the cackling Chloe and Sabrina walked away haughtily. Juleka bent down and righted the cake, which now had an ugly smushed side. "It's alright, Rose," Juleka tried to comfort the petite girl who was crying. "Most of the cake is okay, we can cut this smushed part off."  
Rose plucked the umbrella off of the cake and clenched it in her fist. "This is just.. just.. unfair!" She wailed. "Chloe gets to do anything and she gets away with it! Because she's RICH!" Rose spat out the last word and shakily got up, the umbrella still clenched in her fist. Juleja worriedly looked at her usually-cheerful friend. "Rose.."  
"It's not worth it, Juleka," Rose sobbed. "The cake is ruined!"  
Rose ran off, away from the scene and Juleka sighed, blinking her deep auburn eyes. Maybe she would have to think it through.

~Not very far away..~

Adrien and Nino began the walk back to Adrien's house. Adrien thought of maybe giving Gorilla and Nathalie some cake. Adrien had learned over the years that the two workers who were usually stoic had the faintest soft spot for sweets. Very faint.  
Suddenly, they heard a commotion from up ahead. They looked at each other and shrugged- Adrien decided it was no akuma, since there was no abnormal person wrecking havoc and nothing unusual.  
A few minutes later, the two boys spotted Chloe and Sabrina haughtily walking down the street across from them. Adrien got an uneasy feeling in his gut; If Chloe ever looked so smug, it was when she was at her snobbiest.  
Adrien's suspicions were confirmed when a crying Rose -Rose, of all people!- ran by, not even bothering to wipe her tears which were freely flowing down her cheeks. Adrien had a feeling Chat Noir would have to intervene soon...

~Elsewhere, in a dark, dark place, where the sound of fluttering wings is all one, and the only one, can hear..~

A man chuckled darkly. Negativity, hatred, anger- oh, how wonderful. Power, power, power!  
"Hatred towards the one who has ruined something precious to you." The man smirked. "Baking is quite the complicated art, so many things go wrong. Where there is a wrong, there is a win!" The man extended his palm and allowed one of the many white butterflies fluttering around the dark room to land on his hand. He cupped his free hand around the bug and gathered dark energy from around. When he removed the hand which he had cupped on top, a black and purple akuma was in place of the previous white one. The man released the bug out a window, the only window in the room which allowed a thin stream of light to enter. Disgusting light!  
"Fly away, little akuma," the man roared, "Infect this soul with your fiendish ways!"  
The akuma exited out a small hole in the window, just big enough for it to get out, and hunted down its prey.

~In the streets of Paris..~

Rose hid in an alleyway and slid down a wall, gathering her knees up to her chest and crying harder. She still clutched the little plastic umbrella in her hand.  
She sniffed; Thinking back to what Chloe had done, she gritted her teeth and clenched the umbrella harder, letting the plastic stick dig into her palm. It was simply unjust! What gave that.. that.. MONSTER the right to bully anyone like that?!  
As Rose was occupied in her thoughts, she didn't notice a little black butterfly flutter down to her level and absorb itself into her umbrella. Rose's head instantly snapped up, all traces of tears gone. A red mask appeared over her face, a mask which represented a moth with it's wings open. A voice resonated in her head.

"Disaster Baker, my name is Hawkmoth. I grant you the power to right what was wrong, to get revenge and show your enemy what you can really bake! But in return, you must get me the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir." An evil grin spread across Rose's face. "I'll bake up something real good, Hawkmoth!" Rose stood up and evil light, purple and black, spread out across her body, starting from her hand with the umbrella.

~Wrecking havoc elsewhere..~

People screamed as sticky goo, which suspiciously looked like batter, was flung across the streets and rooftops of Paris. All the Parisians scrambled to get away.

In the midst of the chaos, one relatively short girl stood atop a tower of the batter which had formed itself into a stool for her. She had black designs around her eyes and one large, gray staff with engraved patterns at the end which was spurting out the batter. Her skin was a hue of pink and she wore a dark red skirt and leggings with pencil heels and a shirt of the same color which had intricate patterns crawling up her neck. Her hair was long, black, and had streaks of bright red and pink in between. A little purple umbrella was tucked in her hair.  
All in all, she was an eyesore.  
She cackled. "First make the batter, then BAKE IT!" She shot out pastries from her staff, which in retrospect MAY have been tasty.. if they hadn't knocked into cars and made holes in them.

Marinette, walking down the street just a minute's walk away from the street which the akumatized victim was on, heard the commotion and leapt behind a tree, already knowing what to do and making sure there were no prying eyes. She opened her bag to let Tikki out. "She's putting a shame to real baking!"  
Tikki rolled her eyes. "Just say the phrase!"  
Marinette laughed and angled her head up. "Tikki, transform me! Hah!"

Her earrings formed spots which flashed for a second before the magic pulsed through her body. Marinette slid her hands across her eyes, revealing a spotted red and black mask, and reached out to make the magic flow along her body easier. The suit covered her entirely; And with her yoyo at her side, she warmed up with some stretches and got ready to head out.

Ladybug swung her yoyo out and hooked it onto a lamp-post from the next street over- The same street the akumatized victim was on now. She pulled and let herself be carried away.

..She was met with what she thought was an eyesore. Batter crawled down all the buildings and the street was covered in something sticky; The victim was shooting things- were those PASTRIES?- out of a staff. Those "pastries" put holes in cars.

The akumatized victim whirled around to face Ladybug. Ladybug smirked. "Cooking up a disaster, aren't we?" ..Damnit. Chat Noir had drilled the puns into her.

Ladybug leaped out of the way as a deadly pastry was shot from the staff. Where Ladybug was previously standing, was now a gaping hole in the street. "My name is Disaster Baker!" The villain shouted. "And I'm not here for you.. yet. Right now, I want to know where Chloe Bourgeois is!"  
Ladybug face-palmed. Of COURSE Chloe caused this. Ugh! Hawkmoth must be really thankful for all her help.  
"I'm not going to let you get away!" Ladybug declared before swinging herself towards Disaster Baker (let's call her DB, shall we?).

DB shot pastries at Ladybug. Ladybug retaliated by smacking them out of their tracks with her yoyo. DB's attacks were relentless; Ladybug silently hoped Chat Noir was busy getting himself to her side!

~Elsewhere..~

"PLAGG!" Adrien furiously whispered. "You've been savoring for too long! Hurry up!"  
A little black kwami representing a cat stuck a whole wheel of Camembert in his mouth before swallowing and putting his little arms up in surrender. "Fine, fine! What's with the impatience, sheesh!"  
Adrien rolled his eyes before extending his fist out. "Plagg, transform me!"

Adrien undertook the same process Ladybug did; Except he, representing a cat, had ears and a tail with his suit. Rather than a yoyo, he had a baton, and his irises became completely green. (let's not forget the bell!)  
Chat Noir leapt out from his hiding spot and bounded towards the akumatized victim, joining Ladybug and inspecting the villain while dodging attacks.  
"Cooking up quite the disaster, aren't we?" Chat Noit smirked and hit a pastry out of the air with his baton, sending it flying away from him. Ladybug jumped in the air and cut a few pastries to smithereens in the air before she flipped and landed besides him. She gave a sidelong glance and matching smirk. "Sorry, but I already used that one!"  
Chat Noir gaped at her in mock hurt. "Me-owch! I didn't think you'd steal my puns. Or even like them, for CAT matter."  
Ladybug groaned and evaded another pastry. "Who said I liked them?"

"Tell me where Chloe Bourgeois is!" DB roared. Ladybug bent down in a fighting stance. "I understand where your anger is coming from, but hurting Chloe won't do anything about it!"  
DB narrowed her eyes and her batter-stool lowered to ground level. "I'm sure it will. That monster needs a taste of her own baking!" Now, even though the two heroes had sworn their protection to all citizens of Paris, they felt just a little bit guilty- not really guilty at all, actually- at the fact that they agreed with DB.  
The batter-stool suddenly shot up high into the sky and away from Ladybug and Chat Noir; DB began raking her eyes over the city of Paris for a certain conceited blonde.  
Ladybug stared after the batter-stool and gritted her teeth, tightly gripping her yoyo. "We have to-" Her sentence to Chat was cut off when she saw him inspecting one of the pastries dug up in the wall. "Chat... what are you doing?"  
Chat turned back around and grinned. "Just wondering."  
Ladybug's eyelids drooped in exasperation. "Wondering what it tastes like?"  
Chat shrugged and turned around, effortlessly yanking the pastry out of the wall- this feat required much more strength than how much Chat made it seem like.  
"I have a friend who's like an expert baker," he explained while snapping the pastry in half. His mouth subconciously curled into a smile for some reason. He handed a piece to Ladybug. "I wonder what she'd think of this whole mess?"

Ladybug was faintly reminded of herself. Not that she considered herself an EXPERT, or anything (although her classmates and friends said otherwise), but she was decent. Besides, it wasn't like Chat was talking about Marinette anyways.

Ladybug accepted the broken pastry and Chat knocked his own piece against hers. "Cheers, My Lady!" He grinned before popping the thing into his mouth.  
Ladybug did the same... and they both regretted it a second later, spitting it out and coughing madly. "That.." Chat managed through his hacks.  
"Was.. disgusting.." Ladybug finished, sticking her tongue out at the flavor. It was undescribably bad. Chat shuddered, slipping his baton out from his belt. " I regret doing that. We should follow Disaster Baker, before she CATS away!"  
Ladybug sighed, rolling her eyes. "I wonder what's worse, that pastry or your puns."  
Chat beamed. "Don't hurt my FELINES- these puns DOUGHNUT compare."

Ladybug groaned one last time before swinging away on her yoyo, to which Chat followed on par.

~Now, back to Disaster Baker/ DB..~

The akumatized victim let a snarl grace her lips as her batter-tower persisted ever forward, stopping only when she occasionally spotted a blonde head.. which wasn't quite the one she was looking for.  
She would BAKE that disgusting fiend, in fact, she was doing Chloe a favor! She was sure anyone would prefer a Chloe Cookie over... whatever she was right now.  
Hawkmoth's mask appeared again over the girl's design-surrounded eyes. "You are going your way, but do not forget the deal!" The man hissed. DB lowered her gaze, once again scouting Paris for any sight of Chloe. "Don't worry, Hawkmoth," she reassured. "I'll easily dispose of the bug and the cat once I destroy Chloe." She spat out the last word.

Inside the dark, dark room filled with butterflies, the so-called Hawkmoth narrowed his eyes. "See to it."

DB let her batter-tower drop, allowing her to land on the streets of Paris with a loud thud. She eyed the place surrounding her and spotted a woman off to the side, looking terrified.  
DB huffed and began to walk towards her (not helping her terrified state AT ALL).  
The woman tried to run, but DB put up three hard walls of batter around her. The woman whimpered, clearly afraid. DB cornered her. "Tell me where Chloe Bourgeois is!" The woman blinked, still shaking. "B-Bourgeois? They- they live in the Hotel L-Le Grand Paris.." She stuttered.  
DB smirked, pulling up her staff and preparing to leave. She let the walls drop. "Good. And, as a reward-" DB formed a pastry from her staff and shoved it into the woman's hands. "-you can have that."  
The woman accepted it, confused.  
DB leaped off towards the Hotel Le Grand Paris before she could hear her revolted gag.

~At Hotel Le Grand Paris..~

Chloe sat daintily on one of the many lavish sofas which decorated her larger-than-life room. She let her toenails (painted light blue) dry while reading a new magazine (featuring her hot, rich future husband. duh!) that hadn't come out yet but had been demanded from Chloe (or else I'll make Daddy destory your business!).

Sabrina, meanwhile, was the actual one DRYING Chloe's toenails. And she was perfectly content with doing this- drying her "best friend's" toenails, crouched on the ground, while Chloe stretched out on a velvet sofa reading a magazine she forbade Sabrina to even TOUCH.

Of course, all this daily routine was interrupted with a huge crash- batter exploded from one of the now-broken windows and leaked onto the expensive hand-woven rug on the floor. Sabrina stumbled back as Chloe jumped up, completely disregarding her friend. "My RUG!" She screeched. "Do you KNOW how much that costed?! Who are you, anyways?!"  
Once the batter stopped pouring in, a girl with pinkish skin jumped into the room using the window, perfectly stepping around the butterfly-pattern that the spilled batter made. Her dark red pencil heels showed not a fleck of batter as she stood in front of a scowling Chloe.  
DB cocked her brow and simpered. "Hmm. It would be best if you knew. Now rather than never, right?" DB pointed her staff threateningly at Chloe. "How about I spell it out for you?"

'DISASTER-BAKER' appeared in huge block letters over Chloe's head- cookie form- before plunging from it's place in the air, right above Chloe. Chloe shrieked and covered her head with her arms...

..and her eyes popped wide open when she heard a loud crack and something that sounded like RAIN. She hesitantly peered out from behind her arms to see thousand of little pieces of the cookie raining down on her room.

A baton, which had been used to strike the words, flew back to it's owners' gloved hand. The hand belonged to a smirking Chat Noir who stood besides a determined Ladybug. DB growled in her anger while one corner of Ladybug's lips quirked up into a smile. "Good shot, kitty!"  
With a matching smirk, Chat Noir replied, "There's MUFFIN my baton misses."  
Ladybug's smile dropped drastically; a practiced movement, whilst Chat Noir's smirk grew larger.

DB interrupted the duo. "What do you think you're doing?" She hissed. "Don't tell me that you two are protecting this treachery? She's the REAL monster!"

Chloe gasped from her position a few feet away from the three. (Sabrina was long gone.)  
"What?! IMPOSSIBLE! Everyone loves me." She cocked her hip. "Even Ladybug! Right, Ladybug?"  
Ladybug didn't reply to Chloe's dismay and DB's utter exasperation. Chat Noir extended his baton and used it to lean on. He crossed one ankle over the other. "In any case," he began, "attacking Chloe will only make things crummier."  
One of Ladybug's eyebrows rose. "Was that one intended?"  
Chat Noir looked at her, confused. "Was one what- Ohh! Hah," Chat Noir grinned and leaped into a fighting stance, "I'm a genius, aren't I?"  
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Sure.." She also moved into a fighting stance, already thinking of ways to extinguish this akuma. "Genius, Chat."

DB shook in her rage, aiming her staff at the duo. "You have NO idea what you've gotten yourself into." DB gritted her teeth and swung the staff high above her head before crashing it down on the ground, hard enough to make a few cracks appear. (Chloe's whines about her room were ignored without a second thought; Instead, Ladybug yelled at the idiot to go run.)

Instantly, batter exploded like geysers out of the ground. Ladybug and Chat Noir darted around the entire spacious room, trying to avoid new spurts of batter. Thing was, this time, the batter didn't fall to the ground in a sticky mess. No, the batter hardened and turned into stalactites, effectively making the fight much, MUCH harder for Ladybug and Chat Noir.

After a few close calls, Ladybug and Chat Noir scampered to the far end of the room. They were both panting.

"Little bug, little kitty!" DB cooed in a nasty tone. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"  
Even though the fight had been majorly unsuccessful on their part, Ladybug had managed to catch a glimpse of something purple stuck in DB's hair- a purple that represented an infected akuma. "The umbrella in her hair," Ladybug informed in between her breaths. "Chat, use your Cataclysm to break these-" She kicked one of the stalactites lightly. "-and the ground under her feet. I'll do Lucky Charm from there. Sound good?"  
Chat smirked, resting the baton across the back of his shoulders and allowing his hands to lie limp on top. "As good as ever, My Lady."  
Ladybug grinned. "Good-NOW!"

Ladybug's shout caught DB's attention and the sound of her heels clacking against the ground grew louder.

Chat raised his fist; Dark, destructive energy pooled around his curled fingers. "Cataclysm!" With one swipe, his hand was ready.

Chat instantly darted forward, touching countless stalactites on his way. As his fingers brushed against the rock-hard batter, they crumbled with ease, leaving a pile of hardened batter.

This sudden commotion caught DB's eye, and before she could process what was happening, Chat dived for the ground and slid his gloved hand across the ground, making it crash down with DB in tow. Although she was stuck in the ground, her staff was still with her.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug threw her yoyo in the air, watching as red ladybugs swarmed the yoyo for a moment. When they left, the mystery object that dropped into Ladybug's hands was..

...a six-pack of sponges.

What the hell?  
"What is THIS for?" Ladybug cried out as she eluded spurts of batter, although they were poorly aimed.

"Neat," Chat snorted. "We're in trouble, but we might as well be spick and span while we're at it, right?"  
Ladybug wasted no time to retort. Instead, she thought. Hard.

'Think, Ladybug, think...!'

As Ladybug squinted around the room, things suddenly began to flash in her eyes; First Chat, then DB's staff, and finally the six-pack of sponges flashed in a ladybug-type polka dot pattern before her vision returned to normal.

"I got it!" The girl ripped the package open and tossed three of the sponges to Chat, who was dumbfounded but caught the objects easily with one hand anyways. "What are you planning, LB?" Chat asked with curiousity- definitely not doubt (he'd learned that on day one).

"Next time she shoots the batter," Ladybug said in a hushed voice so only Chat could hear, "throw this in the way!"  
Chat seemed to get the idea and grinned- His smile dropped, though, when his ring beeped. "Better make it quick!" He exclaimed. He only had four pads left in all.

DB grunted in anger as she unsuccessfully tried to get out. "Pesky fodder!" She snarled. "Take THIS!" She angrily shot out four clumps of batter from her staff. Chat Noir and Ladybug threw the sponges in the way, which sucked up the batter in its tracks. As soon as the sponge was weighed down, it heavily thudded on the ground. Chat and Ladybug each had one sponge left. "Hey, this is kind of fun," Chat admitted, beaming.  
Ladybug huffed, but not rudely. "Don't count on it." Her earrings gave one warning beep; she had four spots left. DB clutched her staff. "I'm not DONE WITH YOU TWO!" She shout out four more clumps of batter.  
"Chat Noir, all your strength! Now!" Ladybug and Chat Noir hurled the sponges at the alligned clumps of batter with all their strength (which was a hell of a lot of power). The sponges absorbed the batter and, with the extra momentum, kept giong. Chat's sponge knocked into DB's staff, causing it to splinter and break. Ladybug's well-aimed sponge whizzed just past DB's ear, where the umbrella was tucked, and knocked it out of her hair- and her reach.

Both of their Miraculouses gave another warning beep.

Ladybug walked over and snapped the umbrella in two with her fingers. A little black butterfly fluttered out and tried to fly away.  
"No more evildoing for you, little akuma," Ladybug declared while swinging her yoyo, building up momentum. "I'm freeing you from evil!" Ladybug shot her yoyo forward and the item successfully captured the bug; Ladybug brought her yoyo back to her and smiled. "Gotcha!"

She tapped the center dot and the yoyo opened, revealing a pretty white butterfly. "Bye- bye, little butterfly," she bid the bug farewell as she watched it fly away.

Ladybug picked up her (now heavier) sponges and took the three she gave to Chat. She also picked up the wrapper and heaved the heap of items into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

With those words uttered, a swarm of red ladybugs fixed everything as they flew around Paris: Chloe's room, Rose, the streets, buildings, and cars of Paris, and- most importantly- it got rid of the horrible pastries!

As the superhero duo watched the miracle in action, another beep snapped them back into reality. They had two minutes left.

"Pound it!" The two fist-bumped, their trademark victory sign. A confused Rose sat on the ground, rubbing her head and mumbling along the lines of "what happened?"

"Well, farewell, Chat Noir!" Ladybug put two fingers to her forehead and flicked them off in a salute. She latched her yoyo out a window onto a building for her exit.

Chat Noir smirked as he extended his baton and turned the other way, also getting ready for his exit. "You were aMEOWzing, My Lady!"

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Don't count on THAT, of all things, Chat." With that, she tugged her yoyo and went, leaping away.

Even after she left, Chat Noir kept looking in her direction with the same smile on his face. "Don't worry, I won't."  
He used his baton to leap away.

..Rose was still confused.

~Later that day..~

Marinette let Rose have a free redo; This time, the cake was very pretty. Juleka gasped in awe as she walked around the table, inspecting the cake. "Wow, Rose! This is amazing!"

Rose giggled, a faint pink blush evident on her cheeks. "It's thanks to Marinette. With a second free lesson, I'm better than last time."

Marinette was also smiling, but she bit her lip as she inspected the cake. "You know, it's missing just one thing."  
Marinette pulled out the little plastic umbrella which she had held on to after fixing Paris with her Lucky Charm. She stuck it on the top of the cake, in the very center.  
Rose gasped. "Where did you find that?" She smiled. "I love it!"

Marinette laughed. "Y'know.. just laying around. I have a thing for finding random stuff, you know?"  
The three girls laughed in the bakery for a good time of the afternoon, having lots of fun.

...  
A/N

WhooOo! Hope you liked that episode. I think it was a little CRUMMY, though.  
HAHAHAH! No? Oh. :/

*cough* Anyhooo...

Please review! I'd like to see what you all think of it. I also need your genius ideas. (don't worry, I'll give credit! :D)  
Next chapter will be for "LilyTheNinjaGirl"; Featuring a dumb class game.  
(sorry about the Marichat though; it's just not my style, i'm not a sinner)

See you later! :O 


	5. Hide & Seek

Hello again! :D "LilyTheNinjaGirl" suggested a dumb game of hide and seek, so here I am (I changed up some stuffs though). Next chapter will be a game of truth or dare, suggested by "Taco Fox". However I won't do the kiss.. (yet c:)  
In chapter seven, I can either do a reveal fic, a secret-santa gift exchange fic, or a hilarious fic with Hawkmoth. Cast your vote in the review section for which one you want me to write FIRST; All will be done either way.  
P.S: I will always use Mrs. Bustier instead of the science teacher, because her name is so long and I like Mrs. Bustier more :/ ohoho its lame but yeah

~In this snippet, Mrs. Bustier's class is allowed free time for finishing their work much earlier than expected.. prepare for stupidity.~ ...

"I suppose since you have been well-behaved the past few weeks.. And only because you finished your work VERY early.."

The class sat on the edge of their seats, peering at Mrs. Bustier with large eyes.  
Mrs. Bustier gave in, sighing and shaking her head. "Fine! You can have free time."

Everyone cheered, jumping up and out of their seats. Mrs. Bustier threw her hands up in the air. "Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?" She muttered.  
She collapsed into her chair and took the cup of coffee from her table. "Well? Go on out, you lot! Get some space." She sipped her coffee, trying to suppress her smile at the students to no avail.

As everyone laughed and ran out the door, Marinette looked back at the teacher. "Thank you, Mrs. Bustier!" She exclaimed. "You're the best!"  
Mrs. Bustier smiled wider and watched Alya call Marinette back ("get back here, slowpoke!").  
Maybe this was what her job was worth, yeah?

She had a peaceful day.. that once.  
~ Back outside, everyone gathered in the gym. After a few seconds of silence, Nino asked the real question.

"So... now what?" Nobody had an answer to that.

Adrien shrugged, having no ideas himself. He guessed everyone had gotten caught up in the moment, so when the time really came.. they were all clueless.

Chloe gave an "ugh".  
"SABRINA! My nails got ruined when everyone stampeded like ANIMALS out the door. Fix them!"  
Sabrina jumped forward with a file and nail polish. Neither of the two girls heard Marinette's exasperated comment of "you don't run with your hands".

Alya shrugged, tucking her phone in her back pocket. "Maybe we could do a big group game?"  
Lots of people seemed to like this idea. "What kind of game?" Mylene asked, fairly excited.  
Alya put a finger to her lips. "Something big.. Maybe hide and seek? There are lots of places to hide around school. We could make the whole campus our ground."

Chloe bursted out in raucous laughter, disregarding her nails and Sabrina. "HIDE AND SEEK? You have GOT to be kidding me. What do you think we are, BABIES?"  
However, to Chloe's surprise, everyone ignored her as they chattered over her.

"How about," Alix said, rolling her sleeves up, "we do a good game of hide and seek GO?"  
"Huh?" Adrien asked. As a child, he hadn't been exposed to many games except the ones he'd played with his mom. At least he knew what hide and seek was, but hide and seek GO? He had absolutely no idea.

Ivan spoke up. "Hide and seek go is where you can run if the person whose 'it' finds you. You can also try to push people out of their hiding spots, 'cause you wanna be the last one on the field."

Adrien liked the sound of that; It sounded competitive and, more importantly, fun.  
"That sounds good to me," Kim spoke up. He turned to Alix and stared her down, grinning. "If you lose before me, you have to do a loser dare!"  
Alix furrowed her eyebrows and stood on her toes, poking Kim in between his eyebrows. "And if YOU lose before me, you have to do the smoothie challenge!"  
They both stared at each other for a few more seconds before they broke out into grins. "Deal!" They shook hands.

Everyone rolled their eyes at the typical duo exchanging dares. It was a very common thing.

Juleka stepped forward, rubbing her hands. "Who wants to be it?"  
Everyone instantly shouted out "NOT ME"! All except Chloe, Sabrina, and Marinette.

Chloe huffed, taking a look at her nails before thrusting her hand back out for Sabrina to file her nails again. "I'm not playing with you bunch of babies," she snapped. "In case you didn't know, I'm the mayor's daughter and I have a much more dignified taste."

Sabrina looked sad, but she nodded anyways. "Yeah," she agreed, "we have a dignified taste. I don't want to play."

Now, Marinette didn't call out "not me" because she had actually wanted to be 'it'. It was a little evil on her part, but since she was used to being Ladybug and chasing akumas down, she was used to having strategies for finding those who hid and ran.

Marinette looked at Sabrina, frowning. "Are you sure? You can still play if you want."  
Chloe huffed and tapped her foot impatiently. Sabrina resignedly shook her head.

Marinette sighed. "Okay, then." She turned back to the class.  
"You're it, Marinette!" Nino grinned. "What should home base be?"  
Marinette hummed while making her decision. She looked around and spotted the perfect place. "There," she said, pointing above to the balcony of the gym. "And you have two minutes there at most."

Alix whistled. "Going tough, are we? That's cool by me!" Alix grinned and held up the light blue watch her father had given her on her fifteenth birthday. "I've got my lucky charm with me."  
Marinette smiled softly. Looks like she wasn't the only one with Lucky Charm, huh?

Adrien also had his lucky charm- it was the bracelet Marinette had given him the first time he went over to her house. He kept silent about it though; Marinette would probably think it was weird for him to still have it. He was actually ecstatic when Marinette had decided to give HIM her special LUCKY CHARM. It made him feel like he belonged, like he had lots of good friends.

Which he did.

"All right, guys," Marinette declared, turning around and covering her eyes, "You have forty five seconds! GO!"  
"That's not fair!" Alya complained, but shut up and run anyways, as to not waste anymore time.  
Adrien turned on his heel and ran next to Nino for a while before they decided to part ways. "There's no friend, only foe," Nino declared as he gave Adrien a final salute with two fingers. "This is war!"  
Adrien grinned and returned the salute. "I wouldn't have had it any other way!"

The two boys parted, both making sure not to make too much noise because other classes were still in session. Nino hid behind a janitor's cart which was temporarily placed in the side of the hallway, and Adrien.. he didn't pick such a good hiding spot, but simply because he was up for running and tiring Marinette out for the win. After all, it WAS a teensy bit evil on his part, but since he was Chat Noir he was used to a LOT of running.

Marinette being 'it' just allowed a huge SLAUGHTER (Marinette would later insist she had trouble and that calling it a slaughter was overexaggerating, but it really wasn't). Minute by minute, the group of people in the gym grew larger as Marinette caught yet another poor victim. When it came to anything else, Marinette was sweet, kind, generous, funny.

Here, Marinette was ruthless. It was like a battlefield.

First, Marinette caught poor Mylene. She was hiding behind a classroom's open door- when Marinette came to the end of the hallway and saw Mylene a few feet away, Mylene took a mad dash. Marinette ended up somehow jumping over Mylene- that's what SHE said, at least- and landing in front of her, tagging her out.

Next was Nathaneal. Now, this ginger actually had a game plan. He would leave little sketches of random stuff lying around, so Marinette could find them and hopefully think of it as a breadcrumb trail, while he would run in an opposite direction. This ALMOST worked.. had it not been for Nathaneal's crush on Marinette. Marinette actually admired the sketches (she wasn't trying to be evil, honest!), and complimented one out loud. A faint 'G-Gee... Thanks..' was heard before something that sounded like a hand slapping over a mouth and pounding feet. Marinette sprinted the opposite way and jumped off of a wall (not that she'd tell anyone) to land in front of Nathaneal and tag him. Although she did tell him she sincerely liked the sketches.

He left with a face redder than his hair.

After Nathaneal was Rose and Juleka. Although the two girls' friendship was strong, apparently so was their want to win. When Marinette found them, they had been shoving each other out from one hiding spot. Marinette held in her giggle until she tagged them out.

Marinette eventually found all the others except Nino, Adrien, and Max. Nino and Max were difficult ones; They both hopped around at the home base and, Max, being the super-smart one, was able to decieve Marinette one too many times despite her being Ladybug. Marinette first caught Nino, by catapulting herself off of a railing onto his back to tackle him (okay, so it was a teensy bit violent. Nino was the one who said it was war!). By the time Nino had fallen, all the victims were taking bets on who would win and hooting and cheering whenever Marinette did a terrific stunt. (Chloe had Sabrina do her nails in the bathroom while Sabrina sulked more with each passing cheer that could be heard from outside.) Max was able to get away for at least 12 minutes, a good record (money was exchanged), until he slipped up and his (infamous) watch started beeping repeatedly.  
Damn technology!

Now, the only person remaining on the field was Adrien. Although he'd won, he hadn't come out yet and Marinette was searching every nook and cranny. She scratched her head, confusedly looking up at the gym balcony.

'He hasn't even used a second of his two minutes.. how is this happening?!'

The only person who could ever slip away from Ladybug, was someone who was completely on par with her- Chat Noir. Marinette shook her head, laughing at the thought.  
Adrien? As Chat Noir? Now THAT'S funny. Chat Noir was a flirting, cocky, ...punny, and outgoing guy. Adrien was a sweet, charming, perfect gentlemen, who was selfless.. and.. and.. just PERFECT! Did she say he was perfect yet?

'But Marinette, you aren't the same as Ladybug, are you?" The curious and nosier part of Marinette shoved this message into Marinette's mind. She shook her head hard to clear of it, tousling her hair in the process. She couldn't afford to think of unimportant and, moreover, FALSE things. Right now..

.. She had to win a war!

Adrien snickered as he darted across the gym in four seconds flat, giving people the zipped-lips signal as he passed. He somersaulted behind a pillar just as Marinette whipped her head around, her blue eyes searching for him. He peered around the edge of the pillar; He had to admit, Marinette was GOOD. Much, much better than he had ever thought she could be. As he leapt a few feet to the pillar opposite him, he suddenly heard a commotion outside.

What was that? School hadn't released yet, had it?

..As he looked outside through a window, his eyes widened. School hadn't released..

..But Hawkmoth had. A new villain roared as they took an empty car in their fist and hurled it across the streets. People shouted as they scrambled around, stabbing at the chance to run away. It was mayhem.

It was normal.

Adrien smirked as he opened his jacket-pocket and revealed Plagg, his kwami. "Time for Chat Noir to come around," Adrien stated, already putting his fist out.

Plagg, feeling especially sarcastic today, retorted back. "And I wonder why, that Akuma disappears on it's own, ri- WAAA!"

Plagg groaned as he was sucked into the ring.

~ When Ladybug and Chat Noir met up in front of the Griller, the monster whose long-planned barbecue party was trashed, they both subconciously smiled.  
"Hey, kitty," Ladybug brought up while they dodged deadly patties (pfft, I know right, patties?), "what do you think of hide and seek go?"

Chat Noir's eyes widened. Could it be..

"Why do you ask?" He tried to reply as calmly as possible. "Hmm," Ladybug mused, "nothing. It just reminds me of you."  
Chat Noir grinned, despite his inner racing thoughts. "Such a simple game reminds you of your prince, hm?"

"Don't take it to heart."

'Except,' Adrien willfully thought, 'I did... Ladybug.'

A/N

...I'm so sorry I'm in a horrible brain fart mode D:

AND YES, I'm so late. sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry im so sorry *sulking*  
that ending was crap, I know , I'M SO SORRY LILY I DISAPPOINTED YOU D:

But! BUT! After April 8th, updates will be more frequent and muchmuch better because I will be on spring break (9 days!)! WHOOO!

So anyways, vote for which chapter you'd like next. Even if you're a guest, I will take your reviews and suggestions to heart and use them! And thankyou so much you guys. For the supports even though I'm new and comparitively crappy. Really *wow much tears of joy*

Bye then, see you! :D 


	6. Hawkmoth's Horror

We meet again.. (*-*)  
Hello :D

So I've switched some to-be chapters around. This one is the Hawkmoth fic, next will be a rare kind-of-dramatic reveal (as dramatic as my light-headed self can get) and then it will either be the secret santa or the truth/dare game. I was planning on doing the truth/dare game first, but I'm completely braindead there and I can't think out a plot D: But I don't want to delay any longer, so here is the new chapter!  
P.S: Updates will be every few days, 4 days at most. Just wanted to get that past :/

~In this snippet, poor Hawkmoth is traumatized..~ (mildly inspired by this hilarious comic on Tumblr)  
...

Ladybug and Chat Noir grinned as they did their victory fist-bump. "Pound-it!"  
The confused person who'd been akumatized was kneeling on the street, rubbing their head and looking around.  
Both of their Miraculouses beeped at the same time, causing the heroes to snap back into attention. Ladybug latched her yoyo onto the chimney of a far-away building. Chat Noir got ready to extend his baton. "Until next time, Chat Noir!" Ladybug waved with a bright smile (today had been successful; better yet, Chat Noir couldn't think of many puns involving failed gardens, of all things).

Chat Noir gave a salute, ignoring his insides which were only mildly flipping around (that's what HE said). "Yep!" And then he evilly grinned, a grin that Ladybug knew far too well.

"Chat, don't you da-"  
"Hopefully the next akuma that TURNIPS will be easily defeated, like this one!" He gave a salute and hopped away on his baton, leaving behind a totally fuming Ladybug. "He must have been brainstorming all day for that one," she growled before sharply tugging her yoyo and sailing away.

Despite these victories, there was someone that had lost.. again. Inside a dark room, filled with flapping butterflies, Hawkmoth snarled in rage as the window began to close again. He clenched one fist and held up his staff with the other.

"It's only a matter of time before your despair blooms. I swear-"  
Hawkmoth suddenly choked. His sentence was cut off and the window awkwardly slowed down its pace of closing, although it didn't completely stop and soon it was pitch black. Hawkmoth gagged and hit himself hard, on the back. Man, this was one of those times he wished there was actually a person with him.

He choked and gagged and hacked and coughed for a traumatizing fifteen more seconds before a white butterfly, UTTERLY UNHARMED, decided to finally end his hell and flutter innocently out of his mouth.

He swore he saw the thing smirk or something. If butterflies could smirk.

He suddenly shook in horror as he realized that suddenly- oh no- all the butterflies around him were little hellish bits of DEMON, and now he understood why they really WERE evil, and he was so fearful for himself because they all got so damn close to his mouth.

How did he never notice?

Another akuma suddenly fluttered extremely close to his lips and he let out a girlish (Hawkmoth would protest later but pfft, we all know it was girly), shrill scream, before attempting to swatting the bug away with his staff. He failed miserably by about ten feet, and the creature seemed to get closer to tease him.

Hawkmoth wildly waved his staff around, only missing the bug about one hundred percent of the time. "Kudos to Ladybug," he gritted out through his teeth once the bug was a safe twenty yards away, "for dealing with these devils. Only the more reason I need her Miraculous. I bet she isn't afraid because she's a bug herself!"

And then Hawkmoth's eyes widened in realization. Oh, no.. How had he not known before?!

"LADYBUG IS A BUG TOO?! NOOOOOOOO!" 


	7. Librarian- Part 1

Deeply inhale.. the time has arrived.

A relatively dramatic REVEAL fic.. (commence glorious light and opera)

Well, I'd say. I don't know if i'll be able to go through with this- but I will! Just that seriousness and drama is not my style. It leaves me in a dark mood :S

Which is why i'll probably have to throw in something stupid anyways..

Anyhoo, enough about me! You know I'm open to suggestions 25/7 (add the extra hour for a better measure) and that I read all reviews even if I don't reply! I'm absolutely THRILLED at the response Snippets has been getting in so little time. Thank you so much! :D And yeah, I've been delaying. Sorry :/ I've had tons of HW over the past few days..

P.S: Origin references. Hell of a lot of them. :) (also made a little theory as to what Master Fu may have said at one point to Marinette/Ladybug.. ooh la la)

~In this snippet, a new light dawns upon the dynamic duo of Paris..~ ...

Marinette dug her head even deeper into her pillow-stuffed animal-blanket cave thing she made. It was a pile of her stuffed animals and pillows and blankets- hence the name- and she'd only ever done it when she was ultimately stressed and just needed some time to think.

As of now, her thoughts were a jumbled mess of "what-if's" and "oh my gosh's".

"Marinette," Tikki sighed outside of her cave, "whichever one of the things that the Guardian said, you can tell me which one is bothering you." Marinette could have sworn that Tikki muttered something after that along the lines of "he's a strange man", but then again, she was going crazy. Or at least, that's what she thought for the moment.

Marinette finally decided against herself and poked her head out of the cave. The cooler air made her blink and her eyes adjusted to the dim light of her lamp. She'd gotten home around noon, skipped dinner, and had gone to bed, leaving her worried parents behind..

Oh, she had a LOT of explaining to do in the morning.

Marinette sat up and didn't bother to fix her disheveled hair; she let it hang down and frame her face. She covered her face with her two hands.  
"Tikki.. he said so many things but in the end there was one thing he said which totally threw me off my tracks because I thought oppositely and now I just.. I don't know anymore!" Marinette blathered. All Tikki could hear was a heap of mumbled words, but she translated very accurately due to past experiences.

"What was it, Marinette? You can tell me!" Tikki was enthusiastic, but gentle at the same time. Marinette parted her fingers so she could open her eyes and look at Tikki through her fingers.

"He told me.. to follow my heart."

It was silent for a few seconds. Tikki kept waiting. After a few more moments of silence, Tikki gave in to her impatience. "And?"

Marinette removed her hands from her face and pulled on her hair. "What do you mean, 'AND'? He told me to follow my heart!" Marinette wailed.

..Tikki was so confused. "I don't see what's wrong with that?" Tikki asked, dumbfounded. In the thousands of years she'd existed, "follow your heart" was always one of those things that people said.. all the time.

Marinette bunched her knees up to her chest and solemnly stared at Tikki. "Don't you remember? When we fought Lady Wifi, I said every good superhero followed their minds. But.. but now..!"

Tikki flew in, close to Marinette's face. "Are you saying you're not a good hero? Marinette, that's not true! You know it!"  
Marinette shook her head vigorously. "No, that's not it. In my heart, I.."  
Tikki waited.

Marinette shook her head and groaned, angling her head up to stare at the ceiling blankly. "In my heart I wanted to tell Chat who I was in real life!" She said all this very fast.

Tikki gasped. "Oh.." She shook her little head and sat on Marinette's knees, looking up at her face. "You know, the Guardian has a knack for choosing people who'd work great together. In the past, all the Chat Noirs and Ladybugs have found out each other's identities! Did you know?"

Marinette's jaw dropped. "What, no! How?!"  
Tikki sighed dreamily. "It was usually so romantic! Like a clip right out of a movie. One time, Cha-" Tikki took one look at Marinette's mortified face and instantly jumped up, waving her little arms vigorously. "Not always, I mean! Sometimes it was normal and they just ended up as friends in civilian life too! And that made them work together even better as superheroes!" These words practically flew out of Tikki's mouth at super-speed. Marinette visibly relaxed a little, her shoulders which had been stiff now sagging. "That's good to know, but.." Marinette wrapped her arms around her knees and sighed, again. ".. How should I go about this? Surely it can't be easy.. And to think if Lila somehow found out.." Marinette shuddered. The beautiful brunette would certainly loathe Marinette if she figured out she was really Ladybug; maybe even try to do something..

Tikki flew up and placed her small arms on Marinette's cheeks, snapping her back into reality. "You know Chat Noir would never let it slip. He's honorable, through the puns and flirting, that is."  
Tikki's heart soared when Marinette genuinely giggled; she was glad to have made Marinette feel a little better. "You're right," Marinette breathed. Her eyebrows furrowed. "But.. Master Fu, he doesn't know that in my heart I want to tell Chat Noir who.. who I am. What if he made a mistake, or I'm underthinking this whole thing? (was underthinking a thing?) He probably expected me to- to aspire for my goals or something like that!"  
Tikki giggled. "Underthinking, more like overthinking!" Tikki snuggled up to Marinette's face, who was still reluctant. "Just do what he said, Marinette."

"Follow your heart."

The next day, when the latest akumatized victim attacked - a librarian's assistant who was ticked off at their employer's attitude- Marinette steeled herself. She turned away from the telivision, telling her parents she was going to work on designs in her room, and ran upstairs.

"I'm going to do it today, Tikki," Marinette breathed out. "I'm going to tell him!"  
Tikki pumped one of her tiny arms in the air. "Go for it, Marinette!"

Marinette nodded before her transformation sequence took place, right in her room, before she leaped out the window towards the library.  
~ Ladybug leaped over a bookshelf and whipped her yoyo across The Librarian's back, sending the akumatized victim reeling forward. Chat was already at the scene and grinned at Ladybug. "Glad you booked it over here, LB!"

Ladybug groaned despite herself. And she was going to tell this goof who she was!

Ladybug's features softened. Although he was a dork, Chat was someone she could trust her life to (she had done that already, but that was irrelevant?).

Outside the library, a soft pattering began to sound. "Is that rain?"  
Chat swatted two (fatal) books away with his baton and leaped behind Ladybug, his back to hers. "Sounds like it!"

The Librarian, a lengthy woman with short, curly black hair, a red blouse and- due to the akumatization- black tights with symbols on them and a cloud of flying books, reached into her bag which hung by her side. "Words are infinite, likewise is my power." She pulled out a string of letters from the bag- it took the superhero duo a second to realize that it spelled out 'sword'. A few seconds later, the letters morphed into an actual sword. "Take THIS!" The Librarian swung the sword with all her might; Chat Noir blocked it easily with his staff and Ladybug ran forward, aiming for the purplish-black stopwatch hanging from the blouse.

Before she could do that, though, The Librarian realized what she was up to and suddenly had her sword disintegrate. Chat Noir stumbled backward; The Librarian pulled out 'smoke bomb' from her bag and a few moments later, before Ladybug could get her hands on the stopwatch, smoke clouded her senses.

The two heroes coughed, lost in the smoke. The Librarian's cackling was audible from somewhere in the smoke. "Your story can't end so quickly! First, you must give up your Miraculous. THAT would make for a decent climax!"

Ladybug spun her yoyo at top speed; Chat, catching the gist of it, spun his baton around at top speed as well. All that could be seen was a pink and black blur from the superheroes' weapons.

As a result, the smoke cleared away. The Librarian gritted her teeth. "Smart ones, hm? Then try this!" She pulled out 'bow' and 'arrow'.

Ladybug smirked and, without taking her eyes off of The Librarian, spoke to Chat. "She can only make one word at a time," Ladybug explained her observations. "If you can go up and destroy her bag, freeing the Akuma would become a piece of cake!"

Chat, in a fighting stance with his baton, grinned. "A-MEOW-zing as ever, My Lady!"

Ladybug decided to ignore that as she dodged arrows shot from The Librarian. "I'll cover you, Chat!" Ladybug spun her yoyo in a pendulum as she blocked arrows heading Chat's way.

"Cataclysm!" Chat raised his right hand; dark energy pooled around his fingers, ready to use at his expense. He swiped his hand in the air a few times; it was ready.

In one swift motion, Chat darted forward and brushed his claw-tips along The Librarian's bag. She shrieked as the bag crumbled to dust. Chat leaped, landing behind The Librarian.

Ladybug beamed. "Good one!" She then proceeded to throw her yoyo in the air. "Lucky Charm!"

Ladybug watched as the swarm of ladybugs appeared, creating a red-and-black spotted object that dropped into Ladybug's hands. It was..

.. A ball of yarn?

"I appreciate the gift," Chat spoke out, "but I'm not like other cats!" His ring gave one warning beep. Four minutes left for him.

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "The last person this would be for is you, silly kitty!"

The Librarian snorted, her cloud of books now allowing her to hover in the air. "If a measly string is what you intend to defeat me with, then your story is coming to an end here."

Ladybug suddenly perked up as the gears turned and locked in her mind. "That's what you think! Call this the red string of fate, if you will!" Ladybug leaped up to The Librarian and swiftly tied the yarn- a tight triple knot- around her wrist before leaping ahead and winding the yarn around one of the big bookshelves in the library; she did this motion so quickly that The Librarian didn't notice.

Ladybug then stood in the perfect spot, just out of The Librarian's reach, and began to taunt The Librarian.  
"What, you can't reach me?" Ladybug stuck her tongue out and pulled at her cheeks. "Bleehh!"

Chat Noir's ring gave another warning beep; He now had three pads and three minutes. "Let's hurry this up, LB!" He exclaimed, glancing at his ring.

Ladybug's childish taunting somehow succeeded in snapping The Librarian's temper (as all annoying fifteen-year olds should be able to do). "YOU LITTLE BRAT!" She lunged forward with all her might, failing to notice the red yarn connecting her to the bookshelf. As Ladybug advanced farther and farther away, and The Librarian gave chase, the bookshelf began to tip over. The Librarian realized this too late.

The Librarian's eyes went wide as saucers. She didn't move out of the way fast enough; her ankle ended up being caught under the heavy cedar bookshelf.

Ladybug strolled forward and plucked the stopwatch off of the now-pinned-under Librarian, tossing it to the ground and smashing it under her foot. A little black butterfly emerged from what was left of it and tried to flutter away.

Ladybug spun her yoyo in a pendulum. "No more evildoing for you, little akuma." She whipped her yoyo out, successfully capturing the bug. "I'm freeing you from evil!" Ladybug smiled as she tapped the center dot of her yoyo, allowing the yoyo to open and release the now pure butterfly. "Bye-bye, little butterfly!"

Ladybug unwrapped the yarn from the victim's wrist and the bookshelf; she threw the tangled string into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" A swarm of ladybugs flew around Paris, fixing anything gone wrong; the library, the assistant's ankle, and the broken bookshelf.  
Her earrings gave one warning beep; Chat's ring gave a third warning.

"I'm sorry." A new voice spoke up and the two heroes turned to see a new man kneeling in front of the assistant. "I was being a real jerk; You're new and I guess you deserve a break." The assitant blinked for a second before offering a pretty smile and shaking his hand. The man returned the hand shake and helped her up.

Ladybug and Chat Noir grinned. "Pound i-"

"SSHHHH!"

The two heroes jumped at the sudden shushing. Sheepishly, they made their way outside, standing under the overhang of the library as it was raining. "Pound it!"They finally fist bumped; Ladybug's earrings gave another beep. Chat Noir had two minutes left, while Ladybug had three.

"Well, I guess I should-" Ladybug interrupted Chat, holding up her hand. All of a sudden, her insides were churning.

"Chat, actually, I want.. erm, I.."  
Chat Noir paused and then suddenly grinned, waggling her eyebrows. "You want to stay with me? Surely but sadly-"  
"No," Ladybug huffed, interrupting him again. "I don't know how to say this.." Ladybug muttered while dragging a hand up her face. Suddenly all her insecurities came rushing back to her: What if he's disappointed that it's just clumsy, awkward Marinette? What if he changed his mind? What if this ruins everything?

Instead Ladybug decided to abruptly change the subject. She looked back at the rain and placed her hands on her hips. "It's, uh, raining hard! Yep! I mean, now my parents are going to wonder why I'm soaking.." Ladybug cringed. A stupid lie, yes- but it was kind of true! Going back in this rain would leave her dripping.. her parents had every right to be suspicious about her behaviour lately.

Chat Noir held up a finger at that. "Wait here, I'll be back in a jiffy!" He darted inside the library and Ladybug only had a few seconds to wonder what he was doing before he emerged, holding a big black pole which Ladybug realized was an umbrella.

"Chat," Ladybug uneasily said, "did you steal that?"  
Chat waved his hand in the air. "What, no! The library offers these for when it's raining like this. Temporarily. This was their last one."

Ladybug suddenly felt guilty. The last one? He should take the umbrella; he was the one who got it, after all.

"It's okay, Chat, you can have it."  
"No, but really! Nobody will notice that I'm wet." Chat Noir's smile seemed sad for a moment, before he snapped out of it and opened the umbrella. He held it out for Ladybug with a smile and half-lidded eyes. "Take it."

A sense of deja-vu struck Ladybug, but she couldn't tell why. It was at the tip of her tongue, teasing her mind..

Ladybug's eyes widened in shock; she hesitantly reached up with one hand, unsure of how to approach the umbrella. A sudden flash and a bang of thunder had her eyes go wider and suddenly she remembered, the memory flashing in her mind just like the lightning and thunder:

It started like this. Her, him, an umbrella, rain.

Thunder.

Chat's eyes widen as well as the thunder imprints the memory in his mind as well.

And all too late, the heroes realize their Miraculous have been beeping; beeing, beeping, beeping, and beeping. With one last beep, there is no more Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Marinette and Adrien stare into each other's eyes, a shocking revelation with the same atmosphere. A clashing of vivd green and blue.

Him, her, rain, an umbrella. (this was most definitely not how Marinette had planned her revelation to go..)

A/N: WHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!

Haha I feel so devious with the cliffhanger. And yeah, a cliffhanger after five days..

It's cruel :/ WHICH IS WHY..

If I get enough votes, then I will instead make this a two-shot and post the next chapter right after this one. If not, you'll have to wait a few more chapters before we can continue this C:

But still, thanks alot for the support. Im esctatic! Reviews and favorites and follows and all that- I appreciate it very much :D


	8. Librarian- Part 2

The crowd has spoken; TWO-SHOT IT IS! (erupt into cheers)

Haha, not only did I have a lot of homework, but another reason I was slowed down was because I couldn't think of how to start it. I actually have about 11 different beginnings for this two-shot which I discarded :S

Also to guest (Vm): The reason they do not connect is because they're not supposed to XD I guess I thought it was obvious, but I'll say it now: Snippets is a collection of one-shots and standalone fics. Other than the occasional two or maybe three-shot (such as this two-shot) the fics will never connect.

Well. Inhale deeply again. Here we go!

~In this snippet, a new light that has shone upon the dynamic duo of Paris begins to warm them up..~

The two stood for what felt like hours under the umbrella, their minds screaming at them to move, speak, do SOMETHING, but physically it was almost impossible.  
Their jaws had unknowingly dropped and their eyes were popped wide, WIDE open.

In Adrien's hand, the umbrella felt as heavy as lead and it took him almost all of his energy to keep it upright. The person under the mask, the one who fearlessly defended Paris, the one who he was HEAD over HEELS for, the partner and best friend he wouldn't trade for the world..

..was also the girl who sat behind him in class, had a loving family, was incredibly funny and talented, had surprising muscles (now he knew why!) and -for some reason- was awkward around him.

Marinette, Ladybug. Ladybug, Marinette. Now that he thought about it, how could he have not seen it before?

Marinette's burning eyes reminded her that she hadn't blinked for two minutes. She blinked once, then twice, and then reality caught up to her. She snapped out of her hazy stupor.  
All the times with Chat Noir suddenly caught up to her as if she were dying and she was recalling her life (she might as well be dying). All their battles, and- oh god- all the times she had brushed off his flirting (ADRIEN FLIRTED?!), and all their bantering, and..

Crap. Heartbreaker. Heart. Breaker. The incident. THE incident. Marinette's face turned a brilliant shade of crimson.

'I'm going to need my pillow-stuffed animal-blanket cave again..' Marinette frantically thought.

"I- I don't- I mean, sorry! It's my fault!" Marinette blurted out. Before Adrien could say anything else, Marinette ducked out from under the umbrella, darted down the steps of the library with a speed only Ladybug could muster, and sprinted down the slick and empty roads of Paris.

"Mari-" Adrien was cut off by more thunder. Thunder, something he was eternally grateful for and eternally pissed off at right now.

"Crap!" Adrien muttered, dropping the umbrella. He made to go after her, but a tugging of his jacket told him otherwise. "You can't!" Plagg hissed. "Your limo is here, and I think it'd be suspicious if your driver caught you running after a lost cause in the rain."

Adrien rolled his eyes and sighed at the words 'lost cause'. "Don't say that," he groaned as the sleek limo came to a halt at the library steps. "We're in the same class and I'm sure we can talk it over.. that we found out, and stuff.." The weight of the situation suddenly decided to slap Adrien in the face.

Holy smokes, Marinette was Ladybug! What was he going to do?! Not that he wasn't happy- oh, wow, he was really happy on the inside. He'd always liked Marinette as a friend, and to think she was Ladybug! That was astounding! He'd already determined that it was the person UNDER the mask that saved Paris- and the one he fell for. But now he was utterly mixed up, and didn't know how to feel or what to do. He'd have to think it out. Maybe even talk it out, although he wasn't sure Plagg was the best company to talk to.

But that was besides the point. Marinette seemed.. conflicted, to say the least, when she ran away, and Adrien was worried that he'd somehow screwed up and managed to take their friendship and smash it to pieces. That was very possible with him.

Plagg sighed, shaking his little head. "I don't think she's coming to class anytime soon. Not with the obvious cold she's caught, anyways." He was unusually serious for once.

Adrien's stomach dropped as he realized that she hadn't taken the umbrella and had run home in the rain. Damnit! Now he'd have to wait- so much for talking it over soon.

"No.." Adrien groaned again, resignedly picking up the umbrella. He went inside the warm library to return it; thankfully, it didn't look like anyone had seen the two heroes de-transform. When the librarian asked how Adrien had ended up with the last umbrella, Adrien froze for a second and then laughed it off, saying that Chat Noir had handed it off to him because he was about to de-transform.

Partially true.

Adrien headed back outside and hurried across the sidewalk, getting into the limo. As usual, Gorilla didn't speak but he skeptically glanced at Adrien, as if to ask why he had an umbrella in the first place. Adrien shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, now slightly damp.

He'd hoped to see Marinette from the moving limousine, since he lived a block away from her, but evidently she was a really fast runner (again, now he knew why) and had made it home by the time he'd returned the umbrella and gotten into his ride.

When the limousine slid to a halt in front of his mansion, Adrien thanked Gorilla before stepping out of the vehicle. He didn't bother to sheild his head with his arms as he walked, head hung low, to the front door.

Marinette climbed up the telephone pole and hopped down into her patio, still soaking wet from all the rain. The relentless rain beat down on her and she scrambled to get inside her room, sighing once she made it in.

Then she sneezed.

Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse and gasped. "Marinette, if you were going to run away, you could have at least taken the umbrella!" Tikki fretted. Marinette opened her hair and wringed it out, flinching at the large puddle it made on the floor. "I couldn't have!" Marinette sighed. "And I can't- It's just- HOW?! HOW IS ADR-"  
"SSHHH! Marinette, you're too loud!" Tikki waved her arms around, finally resorting to lightly slapping Marinette across the cheek. "Ow," Marinette grumbled. "Sorry. But.. I'm just so confused! I don't know what to do anymore." Marinette exhaled and rummaged around in one of her drawers for a towel. She sneezed again.

"Right now, you need to take care of your cold. You should change and leave your clothes to dry." Tikki instructed as she zipped around the room, arranging things so it would seem like Marinette never left. Marinette complied, already beginning to doze off. "My parents are going to be so suspicious now," Marinette griped while changing her clothes. "And.. how will I work.." She sneezed, then yawned. "..Work with Chat.. Noir?"

Tikki guided Marinette over to her bed, which she immediately collapsed on. Tikki pulled Marinette's covers over her with a little bit of difficulty and finally took a good, long look at her charge's face. "Wayzz," she sighed, knowing the wise kwami could hear her, "things have gotten a hundred percent more confusing."

~Back at his Master's workplace, Wayzz opened his eyes. He was sunggled inside his matchbox bed, but he knew Fu could hear him. "Master. Are you aware?"

In the dark of the night, Wayzz could make out a dark shape- Master Fu- shifting and sitting up. Fu flipped the light switch one and Wayzz blinked twice to adjust to the light. "Am I aware that they are aware? Yes."

Wayzz didn't bother to fly out of the matchbox. "What do you suggest we do? This was bound to happen."  
It was silent for a moment. Master Fu cleared his throat and stroked his beard. "Leave them be. The girl followed her heart, didn't she?" A wise smile broke out across the old man's face.

"The heart knows where to go."

When Marinette woke up, her head was pounding like crazy. She'd had an insane dream where ADRIEN was CHAT NOIR! She'd laugh, if it didn't hurt her throat so much.

When Marinette told Tikki about her dream, though, the kwami shook her head and put her arms up. "It wasn't a dream, Marinette."

Marinette wore the same dumb smile on her face for a few seconds before Tikki's words sunk in. It wasn't a dream.

Marinette instantly shot up- and regretted it less than a second later, clutching at her pounding head. She then proceeded to cough like mad, and began a sneeze-fest. Tikki, sighing in amusement, gave Marinette a glass of water (with much difficulty) and waited for her to drain it down before breathing deeply.

"Tikki," she said in a devastatingly calm tone, "please tell me I'm still dreaming. Pinch me. It can't be.."  
Tikki shrugged and pinched Marinette's cheek lightly. "Sorry, Marinette," she offered to the dumbfounded girl. "But hey, you can make the best of it! You followed your heart, and-"  
Marinette groaned and flopped back down on her bed, draping an arm over her eyes. "Following my heart is exactly what got me into this mess!" She moaned.

Tikki flew over to Marinette's face and pried her arm off of her eyes. "That doesn't mean you should stop following it! The heart knows where to go. From here on out, you need to organize your thoughts and what you want."

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows and sat up warily. "What I want? But Paris-"  
Tikki silenced Marinette by placing one of her tiny hands on her lips. "Paris can wait." Tikki gazed at Marinette through her huge eyes. "Think about yourself for once, Marinette. Talking it out will make it easier."

Marinette sighed and let her cheek rest on her palm. "Well, now that I know.. about, er.." Tikki nodded her head in comprehension. She knew what Marinette was talking about.  
Marinette sighed, blearily blinking. "I know who he is, but I still.. I mean, I still like Adrien. It.. it isn't gone, or anything."  
Tikki smiled. "See? So you still like Adrien. Adrien is Chat Noir. Isn't it simple?"  
Marinette shook her head. "But Chat Noir, he's an amazing partner and friend to me. He's someone I could trust my life to, but.. not a love interest." Marinette cringed at the last two words; they didn't feel right on her tongue.

Tikki exhaled with a soft smile. "They're one. Can't Adrien and Chat Noir both have all those qualities?"

Marinette started at that. "What?" She sat up straight.

"Isn't it funny what a mask can do, Marinette? It's a piece of magic, nothing more or less. It's really Marinette who saves Paris. She gives Ladybug all the credit." Tikki flew closer and placed her little arms on top of Marinette's hands. "And Adrien lets Chat Noir take the credit."

"See Adrien and Chat Noir for who they really are. Just because Chat Noir has a mask doesn't mean he's not Adrien. And just because Adrien doesn't have a mask doesn't mean he's not Chat Noir!" Tikki beamed at Marinette. "It's the same for you. Get to know both sides!"

Marinette was close to tears. "That was so deep and inspiring, even for you." Marinette and Tikki laughed. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Tikki!"

"You wouldn't have a mask. OR a friend who deserves some cookies, right?"

The two friends laughed harder. Then Marinette sneezed. "Can you do me a favor, Tikki?" Marinette blearily asked.  
"Anything for you, Marinette!"  
"Can.. can you take all the pictures of Adrien down? It feels funny now."  
Tikki laughed. "You got it, Marinette."

~ "Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Mrs. Bustier paused in her role call. "Is she late again? Does anyone have an idea where she is?"

Adrien's heart stopped at Marinette's name- turned out it was just role call. He sighed and rested his cheek in his palm. "Dude, what's up? You've been out of it." Nino nudged Adrien. Adrien had forgotten how observant the DJ could be.

"I'm fine, I just.. uh, I got home late. I was stuck in the library because of that akuma attack. What was it called?" Adrien feigned ignorance, pretending not to know the akuma's name. Or what happened after.

Alya tsked and shook her finger. "Her name was The Librarian. And Ladybug and Chat Noir handled it spectacularly!"  
Nino suspiciously stared at Alya.  
"I was there, you know." Alya winked.

Nino rolled his eyes. "Of course you were."  
Meanwhile, Chloe was ratting Marinette out- even when they weren't in the same room. "I bet Dupain-Cheng is late again. What can you expect, Mrs. Bustier? You should, like, change her seat as punishment or something."

Mrs. Bustier sighed and tapped her heels-clad foot against the floor. "Nobody knows of her whereabouts?"

Alya frowned and spoke up. "I haven't seen her since the day before yesterday. After school she went to this dojo place and we haven't spoken since."

'A dojo type place? That would be Master Fu', Adrien thought, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Er, Mrs. Bustier," Adrien spoke up, finally deciding to end the conversation, "she was stuck in the library and had to, uh, walk home in the rain. Yep. She probably has a cold."

Mrs. Bustier looked at Adrien in surprise for a few more seconds before seemingly deciding against herself. She turned away and crossed something off on her clipboard.

Class dragged on that day; even though it wasn't raining, the sky harbored thick sheets of gray clouds that didn't look like they were going to leave anytime soon.  
Adrien sighed, missing the company of a golden sun.  
Nino shared the same sentiment. "Dude," he sighed, looking wistfully out a window, "killer weather, huh?"

Adrien simply nodded in response.

When the bell for lunch finally, FINALLY rang, everyone filtered out of the classroom. Alya called Adrien and Nino over.

"I'm going over to visit Marinette," Alya informed with a wave of her phone. "Are you two coming?"

While Nino was enthusiastic about it and had absolutely no problem at all with visiting Marinette (partially because a free cookie was bound to show up), Adrien suddenly panicked. He could tell; the moment he and Marinette would meet eyes, he'd instantly freak out and mess up. Oh, the god-awful truth.

"Er- uh, I-"  
"Of course we're coming!" Nino slung an arm around Adrien's neck. "Right, bro?"  
He and Alya waited for a response.

"Uh, yeah! Sure."

Adrien was never good in pressured situations (despite dealing with supervillains on a daily basis).

"Great!" Alya tapped something on her phone. "I know the way to her house better than the back of my hand. It's really close by." She started to walk off; Adrien and Nino followed her.

While Nino and Alya casually engaged in conversation, Adrien internally freaked out. Such fun.

When the three friends finally made it to the bakery, they were greeted with a warm welcome. "Oh, hello, you three!" A petite Chinese woman with a gracious face greeted them- he recognized her as Sabine. "You must be here to see Marinette, right?"

Alya grinned. "You read my mind, Mrs. Cheng!"

Sabine smiled wider. "She has a cold, so you might want to keep your distance. Oh, and here." To Nino's utter pleasure, she handed them a plate of cookies. "See if she'll eat one, and help yourselves."  
"Can do, Mrs. Che- OW!" Nino began.  
Alya "accidentally" stepped on Nino's foot.

Alya pulled down the trap door and ascended the stairs. Adrien went last, trying to delay what was inevitably going to become utter doom. "Hurry up, dude!" Nino exclaimed.

When Adrien was finally up, they turned to see Marinette sitting up in bed. "Oh, you guys!" Marinette exclaimed in a somewhat nasally voice. Her nose was red, just like her cheeks, and Adrien couldn't help but think it was kind of cu-

He internally slapped himself.

"Whoa, girl, you got it bad." Alya rested her hands on Marinette's shoulders. "Hey, your mom asked us to- NI-NO!"  
Alya caught Nino redhanded, a cookie halfway to his mouth. "Those are for Marinette!"  
Marinette laughed (then sneezed). "It's okay." Marinette took a tissue from a nearby box and blew her nose. "I'm not hungry."  
Nino grinned, giving Marniette a thumbs-up.

"Hey, Adrien! You've been quiet. Come on over here!"  
Adrien froze at the sound of Nino's voice. Oh no, no, no no no!

Marinette also seemed to freeze, staring at Adrien with those same, bluebell eyes. "Oh, hey, Ch-Adrien!" Marinette pretended to cough. 'I almost called him Chat!' Marinette hissed to herself in her mind. 'This is going to be harder than I thought...'

"Uh, hi.." Adrien awkwardly lifted a hand up in a wave.

Nino and Alya kept looking between the two, their heads simultaneously zipping back and forth. "They're hiding something.." Alya whispered to Nino.

"That's for sure.." Nino whispered back. The two then looked at each other and shared a devilish smirk.

Alya cleared her throat very loudly. "Ahem, Nino and I are going down to the bakery to get some stuff. We'll pay." Alya sent Marinette a wink before grabbing Nino's arm and making her way down the stairs with him.

"Wait-" Adrien called out. "We'll be back!" Alya called back in a sing-song voice.

The two left Adrien with his hand in the air. Only when Marinette cleared her throat did he snap back into reality.

"Um.." Marinette fiddled with her covers, her cheeks dusted pink. "Sorry. For, um, running away."

Adrien's eyes widened. "Sorry? No, it's okay, I mean- I get it if I creeped you out." He slapped his hand over his mouth after that. Smooth talking, Agreste.

There was a spiked tension between them until Marinette giggled, then started laughing. Adrien blinked in confusion.  
"Creeped me out?" Marinette wiped a tear from her eye. "I thought that after I'd ran, you were creeped out by ME."  
"No way!" The two laughed a little bit more until it died down.  
"So, uh, Marinette?"  
She looked up. "Y-Yeah?"

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, um, I don't know how to say this, but.."  
He peered at Marinette. "Erm.. Are you disappointed?"

This idea was so wrong, and, well, OPPOSITE the truth, that Marinette could just gawk at him for a few moments. "What, no! How would you- what makes you think- I mean, uh." Marinette lightly slapped herself. "I was wondering that myself."

Now it was Adrien's turn to gawk. "Pfft- are you kidding me? No way!" Adrien beamed at Marinette. "Now that I think about it, I don't think anyone else I know could be Ladybug."

Marinette's face turned crimson. "T-too you! I mean, to you too. You too."

Marinette took a deep breath. "I've made a resolve," she slowly and clearly annunciated as to not stutter and mess it all up. Adrien blinked.

"I, um," Marinette closed her eyes in thought, "I want to get to know both sides of you. Because now I know that Chat Noir can be kind and gentle.."

Adrien swelled up with pride.

"..and that Adrien can be cocky and flirty. Not to mention shoot out horrible puns."

Adrien swelled with pride even more at that (why?).

"So, my resolve is.." Marinette took a deep breath and then looked at him square in the eyes. What took his breath away the most was the determination; so LADYBUG that he was surprised he hadn't seen it before. "..I want to be friends with you. As Adrien and Chat Noir.. and then we can see.. if- if.." Suddenly Marinette's determined facade evaporated as her face turned red and she fidgeted.

Adrien burst out in laughter. Marinette blinked in confusion. "What, did I-"

Adrien clutched his ribs, wiping a tear from his eye. "No, nothing! The way you said that.. was just really funny." Marinette blinked and then laughed a little bit herself.

"I accept your offer." Adrien grinned and held his hand out to shake with a soft smile. Marinette was shell-shocked for a moment, before she let a smile grace her features.

And unlike that fated day, the same day both teenagers met their kwamis, these two teenagers confirmed a bond of friendship through the touching of their hands, nothing in between. Especially an umbrella.

Of course, many more adventures lie ahead for the two of them.. but for now, this is where they can begin.

A/N: EEEKK. There were so many ideas in my brain but then this is how it ended up. Ah.. I feel alive(ish)!  
I meant to make like a mirrored scene with the origin umbrella part in the end, where Adrien laughs and then Marinette giggles, and then he extends a hand.. kind of.. no? Welp, I tried.

Next is the secret santa fic! :) Been looking forward to this one because I got some good ideas.. ohohoho

See you all next time ;D 


	9. Cereal- Terror Series

AGGG! Hello, I'm sorry, please don't kill me, I'M SO SO SORRY.  
I am so late, undesribably late. Eww.  
Mix in testing with a sprinkle (okay, handful) of laziness and BAM. Exhaustion (TADA!)!  
I am working on the secret santa fic, but it is much longer than I originally thought it would be, so welp. Here we are with a short, fluffy, cute, and (hopefully) funny lil' thing... I got alot of stuff in mind, so if the secret santa fic drags out, I'll update some more snippets like these :3

~In this snippet, Ladybug and Chat Noir argue about a crucial topic. Hawkmoth turns up with a disaster in mind.~

Chat Noir leaned against the Eiffel Tower, looking over the city of Paris shimmering in the night. One of his feet resting against his toehr ankle, and his hands were slung across his baton which balanced between his shoulder blades. He reeked of 'casual'.

He didn't need to look to know that the little 'whoosh' of wind, had been Ladybug landing next to him. "Fancy seeing you here!" Chat Noir turned and bent, ready to take Ladybug's hand and kiss it in one fluid motion.

Ladybug pushed him back by the nose. "It was a robbery, there was nothing new."  
Chat Noir crossed his arms. "Details, details."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "What's got you in a better mood?"

Chat Noir grinned. "Just the simple things. Today's been an easy day for me. I even had a normal breakfast for once."

Ladybug furrowed her eyebrows, disregarding the part where he said 'normal'. "Breakfast?"

Chat Noir shrugged. "It's the little things that count. Besides, you can't argue with cereal."

Ladybug raised her eyebrows and nodded in agreement. "You could say, huh? It's peaceful and simple in a way. Pouring the milk, sprinkling cereal on top. And it tastes great." Most of the time, when it wasn't soggy. Ladybug stifled a cringe at that memory.

It was silent. Ladybug frowned and looked over at Chat, who looked confused about something. "Chat? You okay?"

Chat shook his head. "Yeah, sorry, Bugaboo." He smirked. "I thought I heard you say something like, 'pour the milk and sprinkle cereal on top'. Or something."  
Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "That IS.. what I said?"

Chat Noir blinked those huge, green eyes. "Oh, I think you're mistaken! Maybe, sprinkle the cereal and pour the milk? That'd be more accurate, don't you think? Don't worry, it's a common mistake."

Ladybug gave an unsure smile, cocking her brow. " I'm not worrying because it wouldn't? You pour the milk and then the cereal."

Chat Noir frowned. "YOU might pour the milk first. The real way is switched around."

Ladybug turned towards him, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "If the real way is WRONG, then yeah! Milk comes first."

Chat scoffed out a breathless laugh. "Come on, we both know cereal comes first. Enough joking around!"

Ladybug gaped at him. "YOU'RE telling ME to not joke around?! And hey, I'm not even! Milk is obviously first."

Chat Noir grimaced. "In the few times I get to enjoy my cereal, I make sure to enjoy ALL of it. I do that by pouring milk in AFTER I pour in the cereal."

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. "You've obviously been savoring wrong, then."  
Chat Noir's eyes also narrowed into slits. "Trsut me, I know how to savor."  
"Do not!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do not!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do not!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do not!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do not!"

"HA!" Ladybug triumphantly stabbed her finger in his chest. "I got you there."

"You-" Chat furrowed his eyebrows, recalling the (childish) argument. "Ugh!"

Ladybug victoriously smirked. "So my point stands. Milk is first."  
"What does you tricking me have to do with the truth?"

"You mean the LIE?"

"You-" Suddenly, the bickering duo was cut off by a deep, scratchy sound. Something that sounded like laughter.

The two teenagers simultaneously whipped their heads towards the source of the noise, spotting a figure a few rooftops away. He had his arms out in a wide stance and held a staff with glass orb at the tip in his right hand.

Hawkmoth.

The superhero duo exchanged no words, only eye contact, as they bounded across rooftops. Eventually, they were standing on the same rooftop as the notorious villain.

"Hawkmoth.." Ladybug said under her breath, her blue eyes dangerously flashing as she glared at his back. Chat Noir said no words, although the way his green eyes were glimmering could represent a cat going in for the kill.

Hawkmoth chuckled under his breath. A sound that sent shudders down the superheroes' spines, although they'd never admit it lest they lose their pride.

"You fools," Hawkmoth said in a voice that was almost inaudible. Slowly, he turned around.

What the heroes saw next blinded them.

In front of Hawkmoth sat a bowl. Hawkmoth had abandoned his staff on the floor for a box of cereal, and in his left hand he held a jug of milk. But no, this wasn't the brunt of it...

He was pouring them in at the SAME TIME.

"You loony!" Chat Noir blurted. Hawkmoth kept pouring with an evil grin. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Hawkmoth laughed harder. "EVERYONE says that it's cereal or milk first, but have they ever considered the true way? THE TRUE WAY OF SAVORING?!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir waited a minute before they realized that Hawkmoth was waiting for a prompt to continue. Exhilerated, they drily asked, "No?"

Hawkmoth crushed the box of cereal. His bowl was now overflowing. "NO! Everything has a balance, so you have to do it at the same time!"

And then the man disappeared, leaving his abomination of a breakfast behind.

Marinette and Adrien were plagued with the horror for the next two weeks. In school, both of the teenagers were stuck in a stupor. Fear flashed into their eyes every time they say a bowl, cereal, or milk. Even worse, all three.

Nevertheless, Alya and Nino were confused as hell as they ate their cereal ten "safe" feet away from their best friend.

A/N : So, what do you do? Cereal first or milk first? Please don't tell me that you do it Hawkmoth's way.

I AM ETERNALLY (desperately) OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS! :))) And rest assured, I will never ever take a ten day break ever again, 


	10. Toilet Paper

Okay.. so the secret santa fic will drag out.. :/  
And I'm also sorry for the horrific typos last chapter. My fingers were literally flying across the keyboard.. which explains how I got the chapter down in four minutes, but ANYHOO!

I appreciate the prompts, I have yet to do truth or dare suggested by "Miraculous Bandit" and Musicheart (Guest). And also a snippet where either Marinette or Adrien must help as their civilian selves, suggested by " ". They are due, even if they are late! Just remember I don't brush them off!

For now though, we can have stupid little things like last chapter. I was amazed by the response that got xD And honestly, I don't care whether I put in cereal or milk first. Is that bad? o_o

~In this snippet, Marinette comes to understand that a fatal mistake can lead to an even more deadly situation ..~

It was one of those gorgeous, sunny days in Paris that had everyone just wanting to toss their tablet to the floor, parade out the door, and bask in the glorious sunshine.

But alas, some things cannot be. Everyone mournfully sat in the classroom on a beautiful day, listening to Mrs. Bustier go on about figurative language. Although the windows were open, this did little to help matters.

However, nothing stopped Marinette from being on cloud nine. If it was a sunny day, Marinette was a million suns and stars and supernovas and galaxies and all that astronomy whatnot combined.

You see, right before class, Adrien had asked if she wanted to hang out the next day, a Saturday, at the park. She couldn't really offer an answer, since he conveniently decided to ask a literal second before class started, but she was grateful for that since she needed time to think and allow her brain to start functioning again.

Albeit Alya and Nino would be there too, and it was a simple thing friends- not to mention Alya and Marintte- always did, Marinette was still sure her insides had been replaced with rainbows and kittens- no, not kittens, hamsters maybe- and sunshine and GLORY. She was sure that she and Adrien had strengthened their friendship a little, and she could actually speak coherent sentences to him. It was extreme progress (in her eyes).

Marinette dreamily stared at the back of Adrien's head, somehow jotting notes down in her subconcious state. Every few minutes, she let out a sigh (that, luckily, everyone took as boredom). Alya rolled her eyes, writing down her own notes which were about 60% more accurate than Marinette's.

At the end of class, Marinette was just about ready to give Adrien an answer that wouldn't come off as way too enthusiastic and creepy- she had all the mechanics and procedures thought out in her head. She'd stroll up to him while he was putting things away in his backpack, maybe place one hand on her hip and the other on her desk, casually bring up his offer in the midst of conversation (in which she would NOT stutter), and accept with a bright and zealous (not too much!) smile. At least, this was what she'd planned.

But her usual bad luck- which had resided even after becoming Ladybug- decided to inflict itself upon her on that amazing sunny day, because Chloe lunged at him and clung to his arm, hugging him and trying to give him kisses on the cheek (to no avail, Marinette could smugly think). Adrien got too distracted in trying to handle the blonde beast.

As if that wasn't already peachy perfect, the moment Chloe let go, the teacher called for Marinette.

Marinette would NOT let anything stump her mood! She forced her legs to walk to the teacher's desk, trying not to inflict any sour statements upon Mrs. Bustier. Marinette didn't want to get on Mrs. Bustier's bad side, especially since she was a very nice teacher and because Marinette heard that her temper was a rare, legendary thing.

By now, the class was empty. People were mingling and chatting as they exited the school, ready to go home. Marinette regrettably raked the place with her eyes for any sight of Adrien, but there was nothing. Nada.

Mrs. Bustier cleared her throat and Marinette sheepishly snapped her attention back to her. Mrs. Bustier offered a softer smile before pulling a few sheets of paper out of a document folder. "Here, Marinette, it seems you were late this one day and were unable to gather these notes.." Mrs. Bustier went on to speak about what the notes were on, when they were due, which test she recommended using them to study for, yada yada. Marinette fought against herself every following second. "I had to give Adrien the same notes yesterday," Mrs. Bustier thoughtfully muttered under her breath. This went unheard by Marinette.

Finally, FINALLY, Mrs. Bustier handed the sheets of paper to Marinette. "You;d want to type that and save it into your tablet so you don't lose it, Marinette. Good day."

Marinette stuffed the sheets into her bag before slinging it across her shoulder. "Good day, Mrs. Bustier!" Marinette brightly smiled and bolted out of the classroom- nothing that was new to Mrs. Bustier.

Marinette ran down the stairs and across the gym before bursting out of the huge double doors of her school. To her frustration, she couldn't see any of her friends.

Marinette pulled her phone out from her back pocket, which had been kept on silent. Now that she checked, she had a few texts from Alya.

'girl, I told Adrien I'd give you his number so you could text him. since you're being held up and all'  
'he didn't mind'  
'ooh, you owe me 200 more croissants.'

Alya had then proceeded to send Marinette Adrien's phone number. Marinette squealed and jumped up and down, attracting a little attention from bystanders. Adrien's phone number! She couldn't believe it! SHE HAD HIS PHONE NUMBER! Sometimes she wondered how Alya did what she did.

And then she discovered a new text, from a strange number, in her notifications box. She tapped the box and waited as the screen loaded. Her heart stopped when she read the text.

'Hi Marinette! It's Adrien. Hope you don't mind that Alya gave me your number-' SHE DID?! Marinette owed that girl 500 croissants- scratch that, maybe 1,000. '-and that she gave you mine. You can tell me if you want to hang out with Nino, Alya and I at the park tomorrow, but we can also talk this way if you want.'

Marinette hyperventilated. Holy COW, Adrien had her number.. she had his.. he'd texted her..

Marinette might've fainted. Good thing she didn't, but she almost did. Hyperventilating was cutting close to the line.

Marinette shook her head to clear it of thoughts and typed out a response. Good thing she couldn't stutter over text. 'Of course I want to hang out tomorrow! I'll see you then! ;)'

No, no, no, no.. NO! That reeked of creepy. So many exclamation points- and a WINKY face? What was she thinking?!

Marinette cleared the text and tapped her lip in thought. 'Sure, see you then.'

No way, no HOW. That made her sound like she did it just out of politeness!

Marinette let out a little "Ah!" when she thought of the perfect solution. Her tongue stuck out as she typed out the response.

'I'd love to! :)' She tapped 'SEND'.

Genius! Now, if only Marinette had been looking at the screen as she'd typed, and not the keyboard.. because she'd made a bad mistake, and innocent ol' auto correct had made some changes.

'I'd love tp! :)' was Marinette's first mistake. But this wasn't near the brunt of it, because auto correct corrected a tiny, TINY little detail.

'I'd love toilet paper! :)' was the end result.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Adrien felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He swung around on his computer chair and flopped down on his bed, face up, before digging the device out of his jeans pocket. He held it up at arm's length to look at it. In his notifications box, there was a message from a number he recognized. He'd have to put Marinette's name there soon.

"I hope she said yes," Adrien mused as he got to work on single-handedly unlocking his phone. Plagg, who was munching on Camembert on Adrien's sofa, swallowed a particularly larger piece before deciding to speak out.

"I don't see what you're making a huge deal about," Plagg indifferently said. He popped another piece of the stinky cheese into his mouth. "I mean, you could ask ANYONE in Paris to go with you to the park. Or, like, the most expensive restaurant there is."

Adrien sighed. "You don't get it, Plagg. These are real friends! I don't use my money like Chloe."

Plagg shrugged. The only noises that came from him for the time being were the slightly disgusting eating noises.

Adrien unlocked his phone and opened up his messenger app, tapping on Marinette's number to open up their conversation. He scrolled down a little, and then..

'I'd love toilet paper! :)'

Well. That could have been better, but it could have been worse..

Adrien was flabbergasted. Plagg must have flown up and seen his expression, because the kwami burst into laughter. "Oh, wow, I love your facial expressions!" Adrien scowled.

"She said, 'I'd love toilet paper..'"

Plagg stopped laughing. He blinked in thought for a second before flying to Adrien's shoulder. "Hey, is she a nutso?"

"Don't talk about Marinette like that!" Adrien exclaimed. "She's my friend and she's really nice. Besides, you've eaten cheese croissants from her parents' bakery, haven't you?"

Plagg instantly perked up. "That was theirs? Oh, wow! Lemme see your phone." Plagg instantly got in the mood to help, for some reason.

He flew up to Adrien's hand and squinted up at the screen. "Oh, look. The 'P' is right next to the 'O' on the keyboard. Maybe it's a typo, smart guy."

Adrien sat up, ignoring the part where Plagg had said "smart guy". "Really? 'TP' turns into toilet paper?"

Plagg shrugged. "Test it out."  
Adrien complied and typed 'tp' into the message bar. Sure enough, auto correct worked it's magic and 'toilet paper' was written in the message bar instead. "Hey, you're actually right for once."

"I'm always right!" Plagg protested. Somehow, the little kwami fell over onto Adrien's phone when he made to fly away... and he accidentally pressed 'send'.

Adrien had sent Marinette a text reading 'toilet paper'.

"PLAGG!" Adrien jumped up from the bed, clutching his phone and staring at it with wide eyes. "How do you even trip when you're flying?!"

Plagg lazily flew up to Adrien's shoulder, looking over at the screen. "Oops."

"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?!"

Plagg shrugged and let loose a maniacal grin. He flew back to Adrien's sofa, returning to his love (cheese). "Now it's more interesting, right? You're very welcome."

Adrien, dumbfounded by Plagg's very wrong response, just let his eye twitch and his mouth open and close like a fish.

He looked down at the screen and suddenly jolted as he realized that Marinette was online.

"Crap!" He blurted. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed out a quick apology to make up for Plagg's mistake. He failed to notice that Marinette was also typing, as it said next to her phone number.

'Typo, sorry!' was what Adrien sent at the very moment Marinette sent, 'I DIDN'T MEAN THAT'.

Well, things just got very awkward.

It was a blur from then on, Marinette and Adrien quickly typing in apologies for their last typo. All of their apologies ended up as typos, too.

'I Scotia making old to. Sorry' was what Marinette sent at the same time Adrien sent 'Sorts I keel naming typo a'.

It was safe to say that the two went on like that for a long time. Alya and Nino didn't know what Adrien and Marinette meant when they said, "Toilet papaer. Long story. Screw autocorrect." All the while refusing to look at each other.

A/N: Yeah. Life experiences. Sentimental. Ayee~

Haha, this has had to happen to at least one of you out there. At LEAST. What kind of typos do you make? I once said fogners instead of fingers. I'm amazing at typing.

Again, I never brush any prompts off! I save them to my phone (don't worry, without typos) for later use. So you can let your minds loose in the reviews area!

Ala hafiz (goodbye in Urdu, I believe!)!


	11. Hide and Seek- Seekquel

Heyo! So this is a sequel, you could say, to chapter 5- remember, the one with hide and seek? Yeah. So I added that part where Kim tells Alix to do a loser dare if she were to be found before him, and where Alix said that Kim would have to do the smoothie challenge if he were found first. And thus this fic was born! I've had this in mind for a while now.

Also, I could never thank all you readers enough- new and old- for sending in suggestions and reviewing and following and all that. It really helps me and the suggestions are awesome!

~In this snippet, Kim... well, more or less could be said about what he went through.~

It was Alix's victory, as usual.

As much as Kim hated to admit it, she was pretty awesome ("In her own sense! I was just being nice!" He'd later protest), and won almost all of his never-ending bets and dares.

This was no exception.

So, of course, this explained why Kim had been blindfolded while he sat on the couch in Alix's living room while she, no doubt, began mixing her witch potion. Alix may be good at many things, but cooking- really, anything involving a kitchen- was not one of them, and so that made the challenge all the more scary for Kim. Marinette and Alya giggled as they zoomed the camera in on Kim's face, providing commentary on how terrified he looked. Kim ignored them, only defending his manliness once before he decided that it wasn't worth it. (He actually just couldn't think of any comebacks.)

Since the whole class (except Chloe and Sabrina) had been playing that game of hide and seek, evidently everyone (except Chloe and Sabrina) came over to Alix's house to see how the whole challenge would turn out.

Mylene, Ivan, Juleka, and Rose hung by Alix, chatting amongst themselves and sometimes offering suggestions to Alix as to what to put into the disaster smoothie- to Kim's utter dismay ("Is nobody on my side?!"). To Kim's and everyone else's surprise (Kim's horror), Rose provided some scary- no, gory was the right word- suggestions.

Marinette and Alya were obviously the camera handlers. Marinette was initially going to be the cameraman, but zooming in to Adrien's face one too many times proved the need for Alya's assistance.

Max was the referee/chaos handler- anything you want to call it. In other words, he just made sure Alix didn't go over the top. With his extended knowledge of science, he could confirm to Alix that yes, putting fresh ANYTHING blood in the smoothie was irrational and potentially dangerous. (Why did Alix have a ready supply of blood?)

Meanwhile, Nino and Adrien headed over to Kim to console him after they'd spotted just what was going into the smoothie.

"It's ugly, dude." Nino sucked in a breath.

Adrien rubbed circles on Kim's back, giving him a sympathetic look even though he knew that Kim couldn't see him. "Don't worry, though. Knowing you, you might survive."

Kim shuddered. "Are you trying to comfort me, or not?!"  
"What? I said you'd survive."  
"You said I MIGHT."  
"Oh, did I? Whoops."  
"Dude."

A clearing of the throat brought the boys' attention to Alya in all her glory, hands on hips and all. "Hey, you know the rules! NO CHEATING." Alya was especially keen about this. Maybe it wasn't going to be on her Ladyblog, but this video had to be awesome. Just like the hundreds of others tucked away into her phone.

Nino flinched. "You make it sound so bad. We're just.. giving him a PREVIEW."

Adrien nodded fervently, his hair bobbing up and down in a perfect manner. Was he always trying to model? "Besides, you can't really blame us. Did you see what Alix MADE?"

Kim shuddered. He wished that he wasn't being given a preview.

Alya faltered. "Well.. there's that. But still." Alya grinned, and even though Kim was blindfolded, he could sense the ruthlessness rolling off of her. "It'll be better to see his true reaction, yeah?"

Kim loudly gulped. He didn't know what he'd gotten himself into, but sadly, it was something not even Ladybug or Chat Noir could save him from.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

The blindfold was torn off of his face and the light penetrated his eyes, making his pupils shrink to the size of pinpricks. "Hey!" The boy protested, rubbing his eyes. "A little warning next time, please?"

Marinette giggled, recording the whole bout. "So there will be a next time, you say?"

"I-I don't- I mean-" Kim spluttered. The whole group, now gathered in the living room, laughed.

The living room was a tastefully furnished one- following the entrance door was a welcome mat, and the room was furnished with a glass coffee table and two brown couches facing the table from opposite ends. Across both of the couches, there were colorful rugs tossed on, and underneath all of it was a large, circular carpet. A few other smaller tables, along with an odd abundance of hosue plants, were scattered around the rest of the area. The room had a homey feel to it.

Everyone excluding Kim was crowded up on the second couch, giving Kim the space he didn't really want. It was like he was on the scary couch (or so it had been labeled) and they were all far, far away, across the galaxies of a glass table, crowded up on the couch which was labeled (in his mind) as the safe, warm sofa.

Marinette kneeled in front of the couch next to Alya, recording Kim and what was about to happen next.

A few moments later, footsteps were heard from the direction of the kitched. Everyone craned their necks to see Alix emerge (Marinette swiveled the camera), holding a fancy silver platter as if what was underneath was going to be a treat. They all knew better.

Alix smirked and stopped in front of Kim, royally bowing while holding the platter up on one hand. "Now, for our special guest!" She said this in an extremely high-pitched, prissy and stuck-up voice, something that strangely represented Chloe's voice. Everyone burst out into laughter- all except Kim, who was sweating bullets.

Alix straightened up and opened her eyes. The glint passing through them made Kim's eyes widen in horror.

"I have made a great delicacy." That same prissy voice.

Alix grandly lifted the cover off of the silver platter, setting it down on the glass table delicately. Delicate was not Alix's style.

Alix suddenly grabbed the tall glass and slammed it down on the glass table next to the platter's cover, as if they were at a bar (ahem, if they were 18, that is.. tee hee). All traces of fake-prissiness or formality instantly evaporated as Kim eyed the abomination.

Everyone on the safe couch sucked in a breath, wincing at .. THAT. It truly was one of Alix's best works, and Kim was going to pay big time for losing that one game of hide and seek.

Kim looked in between the glass of foaming, pinkish-brown liquid with visible lumps and then Alix. And then the glass, and then Alix. This went on for a while. Alix had a victorious smirk etched onto her face.

Kim furrowed his eyebrows. "You can't expect me to do this." He tilted the glass and a few lumps gathered to the left, a big brown mass. Kim fought down a gag and tried not to smell the drink. If possible, it probably smelled as bad as it looked like it would taste.

Alix crossed her arms. "Oh, yes, I can. After this you won't have the nerve to say one more dare!"

Juleka audibly cheered. "This is for justice!"

Kim gaped. "I promise not to do any more dares! So long as I don't need to drink.. this.. what's even IN this thing?!"

Alix wrinkled her nose, eyeing the glass on the table. "If you want a hint about the color, that much is Spam."

Everyone gagged and coughed.

Kim jumped up, burying himself into the confines of the cushy brown sofa. "NO WAY! I am NOT drinking that!"

Alya tsked. "Your dares have consequences. Besides, we have you on camera!" She tapped the camera Marinette was handling for emphasis. "Wouldn't want to chicken out here, would you?"

Kim curled his lip in distaste.

Adrien plugged his nose (again, in the most perfect way possible). "I think the smell is finally reaching me." His voice was nasally but, as Marinette put it, "the most perfectest of perfect because he's like the definition of perfect and if you search up perfect on the internet they will just give you a name-" If we went on, we'd be going on for a long time.

The group paused and sniffed the air for a second before groaning and plugging their own noses. Marinette stretched one arm over the camera to plug her nose and gave Kim a sympathetic sigh. "You'd be smart to get it over with quickly," Marinette advised. "You know how Spam rots."

"And balogney," Alix added, and then slapped a hand over her mouth. "Whoops."

Kim shook in his seat and, finally, after what seemed like hours, edged towards the liquid. He perched on the edge of the sofa and slowly, cautiously, reached out with a shaky arm to pick up the glass. He flinched when he touched the cool glass; his fingers slowly, slowly wrapped around the glass.

"Just get on with it!" Max blurted out. "At the rate you're going, 2.06 inches per second, the drink will have rotted by the time you pick it up!"

Kim flinched and abruptly picked up the glass, putting it at eye's level. He shuddered, turned away and gulped, and plugged his nose rather tightly before tipping the contents into his mouth.

Kim threw up that day. The next day, he had an uneasy stomach and signs of diarrhea. Two days later, he was absent from school.

The video had six million hits within that time.

"Moral," Marinette said, clicking the window closed and leaning back in her computer chair. "Don't mess with Alix."

Nino and Adrien solemnly nodded from their place on Marinette's sofa. Marinette only had a few moments to ogle Adrien's perfect hair bouncing up and down before Alya spoke up from where she was sitting on Marinette's bed.

"No. Don't mess with girls." Alya grinned and fist bumped Marinette.

"Hey, that's our thing!"

A/N:

...wow. Spam and balogney. Two things I never have and never will try.

But, yeah. Don't mess with girls, especially those with pink hair. Yes, Natsu counts.

(..just kidding haha) 


	12. Whipped Cream

I have returned..

Have I said that once already? Maybe... I don't know.

Again, thanks so much for the suggestions. They're very helpful when my brain decides not to be. Although I may tweak some up, credits are acknowledged. Just saying~

Hehe, I'm feeling especially stupid today and I've got the time. So.. we all know what that means!

~In this snippet, whipped cream is gold.~

It was one of the hottest Saturdays of May in Paris, and that was a fact. The usually replete cities were now empty of traffic, the occasional citizen milling around. More people were gathered at the park, or public places, but the roads were quiet and calm... well, as calm as the streets could get.

And so, Alya had texted Marinette only once, a simple two words: 'coming over', and it was decided. The girls were going to have a full-blown ice cream, gossiping, gaming, blogging (Alya) and gushing (Marinette) filled day.

Marinette had discarded her usual jacket, leaving her in just the T-shirt with the small flower print she usually wore, and nothing could bring her to wear her normal pink jeans (rolled up or not) on the hottest day EVER, so she donned light blue shorts.

Marinette sighed for the umpteenth time as she wiped some sweat off of her forehead. "Jeez, Tikki," Marinette panted. "I'm out here dying, and the AC is on! How are you handling it?!"

Marinette's little friend flew out from behind her computer and giggled, a tinkling noise. "I am a fairy, after all." Tikki nuzzled up to Marinette's cheek. "Marinette, heroine of Paris, can't handle a little heat?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You make it sound bad."

Sudden impatient knocking demanded Marinette's attention, making her jump up. "She's here! Hide, Tikki!" Tikki flew back behind Marinette's computer as the raven-haired girl ran downstairs to answer the door.

Marinette swung the door open to find Alya, face sheen with sweat. The girl practically fell into Marinette's living room.

"Ugh," Alya groaned. She had face planted into the couch and had shedded the plaid shirt that she usually wore on top. "It's SO hot, girl. I think my neck is wet."

Marinette wrinkled her nose. "Yuck."

Alya peered up from the couch, only making her glasses-clad eyes visible. "Can you blame me? It wasn't so hot, having my hair open at home, but once I went outside it was like an OVEN. And then I was too lazy to go back for a hair tie since it would be more walking under the sun!"

Marinette giggled. "I guess your logic will be the same." She undid one of her pigtails. "Here, have mine. I was going to do a bun anyways."

Alya blinked and then slyly grinned. Marinette in a bun? Hmm...

Marinette took no notice of Alya's smirk as she tossed her the rubber band. She then proceeded to open her hair and pull it up in a bun as Alya whipped her phone out, sending Nino a text as quick as lightning (what with her typing skills).

'Come over, Mari's house. Bring Adrien.'

Alya sent it, and then added two more words for good measure. Two words seemed to be her thing today.

'Ice cream.'

A few seconds later, Nino responded with an enthusiastic 'YES! :D'.

Alya grinned and tucked her phone into her pocket, tying her hair up into a ponytail.

Marinette turned around, her hair up into a messy bun. "I'll go get the ice cream," Marinette told a zealous Alya. "I'm not waiting any longer."

"I can't wait at all, so have at it!"

Marinette giggled as she made her way into the kitchen, heaving out an unnecessarily large tub of neopolitan ice cream and standing in the way of the freezer's cool breeze for a second too long before shutting the door and setting the ice cream down on the counter. She took two bowls out from a cabinet, as well as two spoons, and only after she'd scooped out some ice cream (healthy amounts, really) in each of the bowls did she realize there was one problem.

There wasn't enough whipped cream.

And so, Marinette stared at the seemingly innocent can which sat on the counter with her eyebrows furrowed in thought. How could she make this work? There was less than one quarter of the can left- in other words, there was just enough left for one bowl. Problem? There were two bowls.

Marinette tapped her lip in thought. It wasn't like Alya NEEDED the whipped cream, right? Marinette had generously provided her ice cream already. She deserved the whipped cream more than Alya (it was the sweltering heat that drove her to think this).

Just as Marinette had uncapped the can and had angled the nozzle down at her own bowl, Alya came walking in to the bad luck indirectly struck again.

"Jeez, girl! You're taking so long. Don't tell me you fell, or something."

Marinette rolled her eyes, still holding the can over her bowl of now slightly-melted neopolitan ice cream. "Ha, ha. Very funny. I didn't fall, but there isn't enough whipped cream. I'll just take it."

Marinette tried to sound nonchalant, in the hopes Alya would brush it off as irrelevant, but Alya wasn't someone who just brushed things off. Or thought them irrelevant.

"Whoa, what? No, you won't 'just take it'." She mimicked Marinette in a high pitched voice.

"What do you mean? I'm offering you free ice cream here, the least you could do is allow me the luxury of whipped cream." Sarcasm dripped from her voice, something that was common for when Marinette felt the need to defend something or someone important. Marinette stood up straight, holding on to the can tight. She had a competitive shine to her eyes, a smirk twisted onto her lips. When most people saw that look, they would've backed down (namely Kim) but Alya was not one to be categorized into 'most people'. She stared at Marinette with eyes of a tiger.

"Remind me again, please, how many times I've helped you with Adrien."

At his name, Marinette's confident walls shattered and she reddened. "Wha-What? No- I mean, I do SOME things of my own accord! I do!"

Alya grinned, cocking her hip and placing her hand on it. "Give me an example."

Marinette reddened further, and had Alya not been in a deadly duel with her, she would have laughed. Marinette shook her head and then, triumphantly, held up the can of whipped cream.

"The bottom line is, I have THIS-" She waved the can around. "-and you DON'T!" She angled the nozzle towards her bowl. "Good luck from here o-" The can was snatched from her hands. Marinette whipped around, gaping. "Hey!"

Alya grinned victoriously. "The bottom line is, I have THIS and you DON'T!" Marinette's mouth dropped further when Alya imitated her.

"No fair!"

Alya shrugged, shaking the can of whipped cream. "All is fair in love and war."

Marinette lunged. "THIS IS NEITHER!"

Alya narrowly escaped her agile friend's clutches. She gaped, placing a hand to her chest in mock hurt. "Are you saying you don't love me?!"

Marinette blinked, confusedly furrowing her eyebrows. "What, no- I mean- AUGH!" She clutched at her head, groaning. Alya snickered.

"Here, you can have this!" Alya sprayed out a dollop of whipped cream onto Marinette's nose as she darted past her. Marinette went cross eyed as she stared at the white lump on her nose. "You didn't!"

Alya stuck her tongue out. "I totally did. Now, for the final blow!" Alya stretched her arm out towards her bowl, ready to drain the can of its contents. But just then, it was as if Marinette's rare bit of luck decided to hop into her life after fifteen years, because a doorbell rang.

It was also as if Alya's bit of bad luck waltzed in, because a doorbell rang.

Alya's eyes widened as she remembered. Crap, she had totally forgotten! Marinette would KILL her if she found out that she'd invited Adrien, and that he had to see her with whipped cream on her face..

Marinette took advantage of Alya's daze as she grabbed the can from her hands. "Ha!" Marinette stuck her tongue out as she turned around to go answer the door. "Wouldn't want you to do that." She began walking to the front door to answer it.

Alya frantically gathered herself before blurting out, "WAIT!"

Marinette turned around and skeptically raised an eyebrow, one hand on the door handle.

Alya bit her bottom lip. "I'll ge tthe door! You can have the cream. It's totally good, girl. I'm good with the ice cream."

Marinette frowned. "Um, are you okay, Alya? I'm right by the door, anyways, I'll get it." And with that, she swung the door open.

"No, wait, don't.." Alya's voice died down as Marinette stood in front of Adrien and Nino (Adrien was the only one on her mind, though), her mouth opening and closing like a fish as she tried to comprehend the scene in front of her. It was as if Adrien's mere presence slowed down Marinette's usually quick thinking pace.

"U-Uh, you here.. I mean you're here.. why.. I MEAN!" Marinette gathered herself and shot upright, one hand gripping the door handle. "Not that I don't mind, that you're here I mean, but, um, what exactly, I mean how? How did you get here?"

Adrien blinked his emerald eyes, offering a soft smile. He was kind of confused, as to why Marinette had whipped cream on her face, but he'd be lying if he said that she didn't look pretty in a bun.

"Alya invited us," he informed, slinging an arm around Nino's neck to emphasize his point. Marinette instantly whipped around and stared Alya dead in the eyes. "She did, did she?" Her stare was withering.

Alya gulped and her eyes widened a fraction. Behind Marinette's turned back, she could see Nino making slitting motions over his neck. She fought the urge to give him one of her famous glares.

"Uh, yeah," Adrien said humorously. "Alya texted Nino, and told him to text me, so he did. So, here we are!" Adrien grinned. "Oh, and you've got a little something there." Adrien lenaed forward (unaware of Marinette's heart beating a mile a minute) and swiped his index finger in one clean motion across Marinette's nose, emerging with a bit of whipped cream on his finger. "It was on your nose," he explained.

Alya silently thanked the oblivious Adiren, who blinked and waved a hand in front of Marinette, who was now a puddle of goo. "Are you okay? Hey, Marinette!"

Nino nudged Adrien in the ribs with his elbow. "You broke her, dude!"  
Adrien missed his mutter of, "Maybe CPR would work."

Alya exhaled and dragged the Marinette puddle of goo by the neckline of her shirt into the living room, as if it were a normal thing. She turned back and grinned at Adrien. "Thanks so much. I swear, I was almost dead meat back there."

Adrien was still confused. "Wait, what?"

Alya grinned and dusted her hands off. "Who's for ice cream? Although there isn't any whipped cream left." She gestured toward the can of whipped cream, still in the midst of the Marinette puddle of goo.

"Er.. okay.. is she going to be fine?" Adrien gestured his head towards Marinette, hesitating to go into the kitchen.

Alya waved her hand in the air. "Yeah, yeah! It's an everyday occurance."

A/N: I don't actually eat whipped cream with ice cream, let alone neopolitan.. what a shame!

But I bet it would taste AMAAZINGG.

Muahaha, I'm planning to do some drama/angst next chapter! Well, if I can. Probably not. I want to see how writing angst feels like. *evil grin*

mKAY, bye. 


	13. Whisper in the Breeze

an angsty.. short little.. i'm sorry..

i'll just get onto those prompts you guys suggested now.. *exhale* sorry

because this is really short, i'll be updating again pretty soon after this. also, I tried to be poetic and stuff? so.. if I sound stupid and half asleep, I apologize.

~This snippet shows emotion- or is it the lack of emotion?~

He felt her breathy sigh against his cheek. "Honestly," the girl in black says, shaking her head, "stop mulling over what wasn't your fault. It's not like you could have done anything."

He narrows his eyes. "I could have done something." His slitted eyes widen, shaped like almonds.

She sighs again; it is soft and half-hearted. "What's done is done. You can't change the past as much as you'd like." She tries to catch his eyes with her own blue; shimmering and bright but not half as lively as they used to be.

The boy brings his knees up and buries his head in his arms. "I can't help but wish for the impossible, can I? Bad luck seems to follow me."  
Mumbling.

She smiles softly even though he cannot see her. "It's because of the bad times that we know when the good times strike."

He doesn't look up.

"In a way," the girl in red whispers, as if she's confiding some secret, "there's good luck to you too, hm?"

Now he looks up. "Is that your way of telling me to get over it?" Deadpan. "It's quite flattering, thanks." Blunt.

She laughs, a tinkling, fading noise. He isn't sure if it's the wind or not. "You can think of it that way." Emotional.

He swallows, his Adam's apple bobbing- he doesn't realize that a faint smile has crept onto his face for the first time in days, no, weeks. Or was it years? He lost track of time.

"My one emotion, and you sweep it away for nothing," he jokes with half his heart in it.

The girl in red and black smiles, a soft, gentle thing spreading not too far on her face. "It seems you've found a new one." She isn't there anymore.

It finally ends there, because he knows now;

good luck comes with the bad luck, too. Even when it seems like it's gone, or six feet under.

He blinks his emerald eyes; once, then twice. He stands up and stretches his legs, shoving his hands into his pockets and taking one last look.

Taking one last look at the tombstone; it stands tall and confident, like someone he used to know.

"Maybe."

A/N: kill me now 


	14. Surgeon- Part 1

So sorry for that- whatever it was- last chapter. I have recovered from that black hole! Although my nose is stuffy and I'm breathing out my mouth and if I inhale with my nose it honks and then I sound so nasally and I'll stop talking I'm sorry.

Suggested by "Ms. McClue": Either Adrien or Marinette has to help as their civilian selves. I'm going from the bottom up, so older suggestions are being done first!

(Marinette is the one who helps :o)

~In this snippet, drastic times call for drastic measures.~

Ladybug yanked on her yoyo, soaring out of the way of the attack that the akuma sent her way just in time. She landed on both her feet and turned around to see a hole in the street.

The spotted heroine exhaled and spun her yoyo in a pendulum behind her. Chat Noir leaped out from behind a tree and furiously threw his baton at The Surgeon, managing a blow to the left shoulder.

The akuma- a man with gray skin, an overexaggerated blue coat, a stethoscope hanging around his neck, and red eyes- hissed in pain. But that didn't stop him from shooting out more syringes filled with purple poison.

Chat Noir flipped out of the way and landed next to an exhausted Ladybug. They were both fed up; this akuma was relentless and wouldn't give up. He narrowly dodged the heroes' attacks and snuck up on them constantly.

Chat Noir narrowed his eyes, holding his baton up in a fighting stance. He gave a Cheshire grin. "Maybe we should give him a piece of our mind, hm? Not literally, though."

Ladybug rolled her eyes, still spinning her yoyo. "They get worse and worse."

The man's eyes flared at Ladybug and Chat Noir's exchanged commentary. "He FIRED ME IN FAVOR OF THAT NEW PANSY!" The man roared. A huge mass of bandages came up from behind him and unfurled, writhing about like snakes ready to lunge for the kill.  
"A PANSY WHO HASN'T EVEN DISSECTED A HUMAN BEFORE!"

Ladybug wrinkled her nose. "Uck. Let's not get into the details."

Chat Noir blinked in surprise and then smirked at her. "Squeamish, are we?"

Ladybug didn't meet his eyes. "Shut up." Especially since they were having a fetal pig dissection in a week. Ugh, she hated Bio week.

Chat didn't get any time to tease her for it, because all at once the bandages shot forward, turning and whistling in the air and sharpening like knives. Chat Noir yelped and pulled Ladybug to his side, spinning his baton with one hand to deflect the razor-sharp ace bandages. "Got a plan? I think we should end this, now!"

Ladybug briefly nodded and jumped up, throwing her yoyo into the air. "LUCKY CHARM!"

Out fell.. nothing.

Or at least Ladybug saw nothing. When she squinted and felt around her left palm with her thumb, she felt something small roll around.

A small, red and black plastic bead, camoflauged with her suit.

"What?" Ladybug balked. "This has GOT to be the most usele-"

"DUCK!"

Ladybug ducked under a bandage that had lunged for her head. She yanked it out of the air with a newfound rage and ripped it in half.

The Surgeon blanched.

"Whoa, LB, at that rate you might not even need your Lucky Charm. Let's not cut into things here!"

Ladybug's left eye twitched at the pun. "I have no idea how I'd be able to use this anyways. A BEAD?!"

Chat exhaled through his nose. "You'll figure things out. 'Till then, I'll cover, 'kay?" He winked.

Ladybug wanted to protest but Chat leaped away, leaving her with the useless bead and her brain. Sometimes she wished she came off as thick so she'd GET some help.

"Hey, big guy! Let's CUT straight to the chase, huh?" She could her Chat calling out. (She suppressed an eye roll.)

Ladybug bit her lip, hard, and thought, thought, and thought- of nothing. Nothing. Blank space.

"Aurgh!" Ladybug squinted at the bead, close to her eyes, as if that would help. It didn't.

She scrutinized the bead, turning it this way and that. It was the same all around; a perfect little sphere with five perfect little dots.

Ladybug's eye twitched.

"Any quicker, My Lady?!" The sounds of clashing and clamor grew intense as Ladybug's brain grew more ineffective by the second.

"I have no idea!" Ladybug shouted over the noise, dodging a few lethal bandages in the process. "This hasn't happened before- I- I don't know how to use it!" Ladybug's head whipped around, scanning her surroundings for anything, anything at all, heart racing-

Nothing! The pressure was building.

Chat Noir flipped back while dodging a syringe. "The akuma's in his stethoscope-" He pointed to it, hanging around The Surgeon's neck. "-we know at least that much. Oh!" Chat Noir's eyes grew wide as they landed on Ladybug's earrings. "You've got two spots?!"

"What?" Ladybug's hand instantly reached up for an earring. She couldn't feel it, but she knew; indeed, she had two minutes left. How did she not know? Was the pressure of simply not knowing too much?

She jolted back, startled. "I guess I couldn't hear. How will you-"

Chat Noir waved a hand in the air, holding his baton up- ready for another fight. "You recharge and head back. I can handle things here. It's imPAWsible to think you're doubting me, My Lady."

Ladybug scoffed but smiled anyways as she turned around. "Stay safe. I need to bug out!" She gave a two fingered salute before launching into the air using her yoyo. She still held on to the bead.

Chat Noir only got to watch for a second before the raspy voice of The Surgeon snapped him back into reality. "I should shred you, Chat Noir! Standing in the way of true medicinal value."

Chat Noir grinned. "Your words contradict each other- but whatever. Round 2!"

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Marinette exhaled as she landed behind a building, detransforming just in time. Tikki zipped up to her face.

"You certainly chose a spot not too far from the battle." Indeed; if Marinette peeked around the side, she could see Chat Noir and The Surgeon duel it out. Front row seats.

Marinette sighed, blowing her bangs up in the process. "I can't help it! This is the first time it's ever happened, Tikki. I'm clueless!"

Tikki blinked her large eyes. "It happens, Marinette. You can't always be suave, now can you?" Tikki giggled while Marinette rolled her eyes.

Then Marinette realized that her right palm was still enclosed. To her shock, she uncurled the fingers and revealed the little bead.

"What?! How do I still have this?"

Tikki settled in the hand which held the plastic bead and looked up at Marinette. "The Lucky Charm is an incriment of your magic. Only when it's with your body, that is. When it's separated, then it's on its own, not completely connected with you. Kind of like me!" Tikki flew into the air and performed a little flip to which Marinette smiled.  
"I'm fully part of you only when you're Ladybug. As Marinette, I'm not completely part of you. Just somewhat, as long as you've got the earrings."

Marinette nodded. "That makes sense. But that doesn't change the fact that I don't know what to do with the bead. Oh! And you need a cookie.." Marinette fumbled around in her purse with her left hand for a moment before unveiling a cookie. "Lucky day! I didn't eat it at lunch."

Tikki zoomed up and took the cookie in her arms. However, before she could take a bite, she looked over Marinette's shoulder and her eyes widened, irises shrinking in shock. "Look!"

Marinette whipped around to see Chat bound up in bandages midair, The Surgeon stalking towards him. "And now, your Miraculous," The Surgeon said after a glowing mask appeared on his face. Chat Noir struggled and thrashed within the bandages but they only seemed to get tighter. He gritted his teeth.

"Chat Noir!" Marinette blurted. He couldn't hear her, and his legs only seemed to thrash harder to no avail. "Tikki, I need to do something now! Can you eat faster?"

Tikki frantically chewed and swallowed, not even half done with the big pastry. "I can't! You have to do something without me!"

Marinette's head spun. "But- what can I-"

Tikki shook her little head. "No doubts! You ARE Ladybug. Right now, you're Ladybug too. You can think it out like always, right?"

Marinette cleared her doubts as Tikki ordered, flushing them all out with a hesitant nod. "Yeah, I can."

"CATACLYSM!"

Marinette stuck her head out over the edge of the building to see the bandages shrivel up and Chat fall to the ground, landing on his feet like a cat. He whipped out his baton and extended it sharply into The Surgeon's stomach, sending the villain flying into a wall. Rocks crumbled and dust flew.

She heard his ring beep, and she saw him frantically hold his fingers up to look at it. "Where is she.." His mutters were audible. Her head pounded at the fact that she knew.

She looked over her shoulder to see Tikki digging into the cookie frantically, but it would take her more than four minutes to finish.

Marinette furrowed her brows and held up the plastic bead, eyeing it. 'Tikki's right', the girl silently thought, 'I need to do something, and using this. I have to take into consideration everything.. resources, surroundings.. time..'

Marinette peeked over the edge of the building again. Chat was advancing on The Surgeon, slowly but surely, and the villain was getting a bit disgruntled. A purple mask flashed over his eyes for a second before the man let his syringes and bandages drop limp.

"I'm going to end this now, Chat Noir!" He grinned, red eyes flashing.

Chat Noir's ring beeped. Three minutes.

Chat Noir didn't have much time to comprehend what The Surgeon said, before the villain cut in once more: "Quite literally." Suddenly, in one fluid motion, the man had a purple gun's barrel pressed to Chat Noir's head. The hero went cross-eyed looking up at it, worry etched into his face. The villain's blue jacket still billowed from the sudden movement.

Marinette blanched. "How-how did he- where did-"

Tikki desperately buzzed, shoveling her face with cookie. "Final blow," the fairy managed, panting from all the eating. She had a little bit left to go. "They teach all the surge-"

"First thing they teach us," The Surgeon softly said, cutting Tikki off with an explanation of his own. "Gun point range. Right to the forehead, it's instant death. My mother taught me that one." His soft tone caught both heroes- one detransformed, one not- by surprise. Maybe this man could remember, and..

His eyes suddenly flashed and he simpered. "Into the windpipe, the bloodstream is cut off." He dragged the barrel down Chat's cheek, his jaw and his chin, and stopped at his throat. "That is, with a bullet. With this liquid, the same one in the syringes, your mind is mine." The man grinned, his finger itching for the trigger-

Marinette's eyes flared as she suddenly knew what to do. "Tikki," the girl breathed, knees buckling, "yell at me later for this."

The fairy zipped towards Marinette, concern etched into her little face. "What are you-"

Marinette gulped and darted out into the opening.

"Marinette?!" Chat Noir's eyes widened. The Surgeon whipped around, but kept his gun hold firm on Chat Noir's neck. "What are you doing?! MOV-"

Marinette ran faster, all the gears suddenly turning and locking in her head; faster, faster, faster. Everything flashed around her: the gun, the trigger, the bead, The Surgeon, all of it flashed in a ladybug pattern. Tikki was right; she was Ladybug, mask or not, and in this moment, she was going to use a Lucky Charm.

She leaped, gauging the distance between her and the bead. The amount of force- the precision- the trigger-

"MARINETTE!" Chat shouted-

Marinette jumped up and angled her right arm back, bead pinched within index and thumb fingers. Strange as it was, through the adrenaline and rush and chaos, her mind calmy issued orders and now it calmy thought as if laying in bed, musing over nothings.

'This is it," she thought, arm cranking back even further. Things seemed to go in slow motion; she still flew midair, eyes trained on the gun trigger..

'You need to throw it two o'clock.. it's one fifty.. one fifty five.. one fifty nine..'

Her grip on the bead loosened a little and her hand jerked backwards.

'Two o'clock.'

With all her strength, Marinette's arm rushed forward and released the bead like a bullet with dead-straight aim, flying straight for The Surgeon-

It lodged in his gun, right behind the trigger.

Time caught up with Marinette and suddenly she was falling. She tucked her head into her shoulder and turned midair, letting the impact go mostly to her right arm. She gritted her teeth as her arm met concrete and, almost instantly after, her head shot up and her eyes searched for The Surgeon or Chat.

They were both flabbergasted.

"What- but how, this-this.." The Surgeon floundered for an excuse, repeatedly clicking the trigger to no avail. The bead was firmly lodged in the gun right behind the trigger; the gun couldn't be launched.

Chat Noir recovered first and his leg shot up high, kicking the gun out of The Surgeon's hands; it spun in the air and rushed to the ground, skittering on the cement and chipping in the process.

Marinette blinked and jolted upright; her arm was, luckily enough, only bruised and a little skinned. No broken bones. Marinette exhaled and darted back behind the building, checking to make sure Chat Noir didn't see her.

Tikki angrily flew up above Marinette, looking down into her blue eyes. "What were you thinking?!" Tikki scolded. "You could have gotten hurt!"

Marinette sighed, shaking her head. For some crazy reason, she was feeling giddy. Light headed. "Right now we need to purify and akuma. Tikki, SPOTS ON!"

In a flash, Ladybug leapt out to see Chat Noir snatch the stethoscope from around The Surgeon's neck. His cat ears flapped a little before he turned around and spotted Ladybug. "My Lady! It's about time!"  
Chat Noir threw the stethoscope to her. "Do your stuff!"

Ladybug caught the stethoscope with her yoyo. "Gladly." She held the instrument by the earbuds and tore it in half vertically. The remains fell to the ground and out fluttered a butterfly, trying to get away- to no avail.

"Oh, no, you don't." Ladybug spun her yoyo to gain speed; a pink blur was all that could be seen. "You've done enough harm, little akuma. Time to purify you!" She shot her yoyo forward like a projectile and caught the bug. "Gotcha!"

She brought her yoyo back to her and tapped the center dot, allowing it to open and release a pure white butterfly. "Bye bye, little butterfly," she softly said. She then headed over to the far end of the street, to where Chat Noir had kicked the gun, and crushed the weapon under her heel to dislodge the bead. Something sticky and purple oozed out.

She plucked the bead out from the mess and gave it a soft smile before tossing it high into the air. "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

Ladybugs and pink dust erupted from the little bead, fixing all the damage done in Paris. They repaired the man's stethoscope and his evil form washed away, leaving a man in a simple white labcoat and hazel eyes, blinking in confusion.

Chat Noir headed over to Ladybug. "Pound it!" They fist bumped.

Ladybug lowered her fist and smiled. Her right arm was all better now. "Looks like you could handle things fine all on your own, Chat Noir."

Chat Noir shook his head, tousling his hair. No, actually there was someone- wait, how did she.." Chat Noir's eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed. If she had thrown something to lodge behind the trigger.. and what Ladybug pulled out of the gun right now was..

Ladybug blinked, walking backwards slowly. "Um, I need to go."

Chat Noir held a clawed hand out. "Wait a sec-"

"Bug out!" Ladybug sailed away.

A/N: that was a crap ending.. eek!  
sorry

Notes/reviews if you want me to make a second part to this? Maybe a reveal fic? Oooh la la.. since it WAS a cliffhanger an all. :)

I'm inspired by Soman Chainnai's writing style- maybe you've heard of his book, "School of Good and Evil"? Haha, I know, it's a fairy tale thing. But I'm 12, what can you expect? (-.-) Though a bunch of older people read it, and that's totally cool too.

ANYWAYS, the way he writes is so exhilerating, it actually makes your (mines, at least) heart pound. It's cool.

I'm getting onto those suggestions, so keep 'em coming!  



	15. Surgeon- Part 2

hello, thank you so much for the reviews- the reason why I am here making this chapter! ANY HOLY SCZHMADOODLES DO I REALLY HAVE OVER A HUNDRED FOLLOWERS. ON THIS RATTY COLLECTION, WOWOWOW.. i am shocked. THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! shell shocked still. shell shocked forever

This will be a three parter! And here I have ONE condition:

If I get at least five different reviews asking for a third chapter, I will do it for chapter 16. BUT! If I don't I will do 2 more suggestions before I finish this. (mwahahaha) so make yer choice!

WARNING: Strong urges to bash your head because of irony may occur throughout this chapter. Don't do it.

~In this snippet, it takes as little as a bead to make a world of differences.~

Ladybug's heart suddenly sped up like an alarm as Chat's jade eyes narrowed, his eyebrows underneath the mask furrowing with realization. "Hold on, how did she..."

Ladybug thickly swallowed. 'I was rash..' she frantically thought.  
"Um, I need to go," she slowly annunciated. She walked backwards, careful not to stumble.

"Wait-" Chat held out a clawed hand-

"Bug out!" Ladybug whipped her yoyo out behind her back and, with unadulterated skill, sailed off into the sky.

Meanwhile, she was berating herself on the inside. 'Bug out?' Ladybug winced as the rushing wind tousled her hair and nipped at her face. 'What the hell was that?!'

Ladybug yanked on her yoyo harder and sailed across Paris, her feet only lightly touching rooftops before she was off again. Someone who didn't know better might think there was a flying person in the air.

Ladybug spotted her balcony and leaped in, releasing her transformation in a bout of pink magic and slumping down against the railing. Tikki flew out and tried to catch Marinette's eye for a few moments before deciding to speak.

"Marinette... you probably think you were reckless, don't you?"

Marinette's head snapped up; she did meet Tikki's eyes this time. "How do you- how can you tell?"

Tikki rolled her eyes, softly smiling. "It's not hard to read your face, Marinette. You have very strong emotions."

Marinette looked to the ground in defeat.

"Hey now, who said that was a bad thing?" Tikki flew down to Marinette's level and gently touched one of her cheeks with one of her arms. "Emotions will make you stronger, Marinette. Remember that."

Marinette hesitantly met the fairy's eyes again and cupped her to her own cheek. "Sometimes I forget how wise you are."

Tikki giggled. "Don't forget it! Thousands of years aren't for nothing."

Marinette delicately laughed. Tikki eased into her open palms. "Although what you did was reckless.."

Marinette faltered.

"..it was also very, very brave. It was the only thing you could have done, and your timing was impeccable. You've learned well."

Marinette swelled with pride.

"But," Tikki said in her 'commander' voice (something Marinette had made a label for, when Tikki got all epic like the demigod she was), "now we have two problem on her hands. First is Chat, who may be on to us."

Marinette's eyes flickered back and forth while she thought, tapping her lip. "I can think of a few ways to deter that," Marinette mused. "I mean, I'm already so different from who people think Ladybug is. I just need to make it... solid."

Tikki nodded, but now concern flashed in her eyes. "That's not the worst of it. Our second problem.."

Marinette waited in anticipation. What could be worse than one half of a dynamic duo figuring her out? Revealing her? All her secrets undone like a spool of thread unraveling?

"..is Alya."

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The next day at school, Marinette was extremely wary of her surroundings. If Tikki was right, and Alya HAD filmed it, then people would have been asking questions by now, would they not? Which they weren't.

Unless, Marinette was just really unpopular.. Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't mean to sound conceited or anything (like someone else she knew), but she didn't think she was unpopular at all.

So.. what was going on? Was Tikki wrong? Had Alya not filmed it at all? No, that was too unlikely- Tikki was rarely wrong and Alya was rarely absent... from a fight scene, that is.

Marinette was so consumed into her thoughts she didn't see Alya approach and walked right into her, bonking her head against hers pretty hard.

"OW!" Alya rubbed the sore spot on her head with the same hand she held her phone in, glaring at the person who'd bumped into her. Then her glare evaporated. "Oh, it's just you. Makes sense."

Marinette was also rubbing the sore spot on her head. "Hey!" She hotly protested. "What does that mean?!"

Alya laughed. "It means your a clumsy klutz!" Suddenly her face grew excited. "Except for yesterday!" She whispered.

Marinette's body functions froze. Had she heard properly?

Alya was suddenly bouncing with energy and grabbed Marinette by the shoulders, steering her into the school until they were behind a vacant wall.

Alya took a deep breath and then suddenly squealed.

"Hey! What are you doing, Alya?"

Alya was jumping up and down, clasping her phone to her chest. Finally, she took her second deep breath that minute and calmed down... somewhat.

"Girl, you had better tell me everything. And I mean everything. All the juicy deets." Alya was grinning from ear to ear.

'Dammit..' Marinette resignedly thought.

Marinette feigned confusion- but she wasn't a very good actor. She couldn't meet Alya's eyes and kept rubbing at the back of her neck, sheepishly laughing. "Whaaaat? What are you talking about, you crazy girl? I am SO confused.. so confused." She muttered in an undertone.

Alya crossed her arms. One of her eyebrows rose. "Don't play games with me! I know you're secretly.."

Marinette's breath caught.

".. a ninja or something! Like, holy crap, that was awesome!"

Marinette sighed, relieved, but she wasn't done yet. "Um.. I'm still confused.. catch me up a bit please?"

Alya rolled her eyes, already unlocking her phone. "Honestly, you could be, I dunno, sky diving one day and act like it was nothing the next." Alya swiped her screen a few times and finally tapped something, her face lighting up. "Girl, I swear, if I don't hear from this I am totally gonna spontaneously combust." (They had learned about that recently in Chemistry.)

Marinette knew this was a war she couldn't win, but she watched the video anyways. Somehow, Alya had gotten a perfect standpoint from where she could CLEARLY see Marinette dart out from somewhere off-camera and sprint before leaping high into the air, her arm cranking back and finally releasing the bead like a bullet. It was only a matter of two seconds before Marinette fell, painstakingly, and it looked like it hurt. Marinette winced, rubbing her right arm. Had she really skidded that much? Man, the things adrenaline did to you.

Alya shouted commentary and the video stopped before Marinette could be seen running behind a building- the same building Ladybug had later emerged from. Marinette subconsciously exhaled in relief.

But amidst the video, Marinette jolted with a realization. "Hold on!" Marinette accusingly pointed at Alya after the video. "How did you videotape it? I didn't see you there!"

Alya grinned and winked. "You aren't the only ninja here. I've gotten better at my job." Alya's smug facade dropped. "That, and my phone camera is amazing."

Marinette only rolled her eyes, although with humour. "Soo..." Marinette stretched out the word, unsure. "Um.. what are you gonna do with the video?"

Alya's jaw dropped. "Upload it to the Ladyblog, duh"

Marinette suddenly jumped into the air and clutched at her hair, gaping at Alya. "WHAT?! Why?"

Alya blinked, confused. Why was Marinette being more jittery than usual?

"Well.. not only was your stunt AWESOME, but I captured Ladybug and Chat Noir's fight in the same video. I don't get it, aren't you proud of yourself?"

Marinette stared at Alya. It seemed that her best friend hadn't suspected a thing- she had assumed that Marinette was being plain awesome.

She could think of a few individuals who knew better, herself included.

"Um.. sure? But, uh, I'm- camera shy! Yeah. I don't want to be on your blog because it's pretty popular." Marinette threw in the extra compliment for good measure, but it didn't work.

Alya crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You were on the cover of a magazine, remember? You designed the Rock King's album cover?"

Marinette faltered, her pointer finger in the air. "Um, that was.. er.."

"Marinette!"

A glorious voice saved Marinette from having to explain what she couldn't possibly explain- but now she faced a greater difficulty.

Talking to Adrien.

Marinette instantly whipped around to see Adrien waving at the two of them, heading over while holding his bag strap with his left hand. The light hit his face perfectly and his hair was bouncing and..

Marinette almost fell right there and then.

Adrien stopped short of them, not even panting from the run across the gym he had to do to get to their side.

"Oh, hey, Adrien!" Alya grinned and inconspicuously (not) elbowed Marinette, who had frozen over, in the ribs.

Marinette blinked and waved her arms around animatedly. "Oh, ha, hi! Adrien! Hello!" She said too enthusiastically, grinning like a madman.

Adrien smiled. "Hey, guys." He turned to Marinette. "Is your arm okay?" Suddenly he seemed worried.

Marinette, taken aback by this sudden change, blinked and cocked her head in confusion. "What? O-Of course it is.. why do you ask?"

Adrien blinked. "Um.. didn't you pull a stunt, yesterday?"

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. "Yeah, but- I didn't see you? Alya didn't upload it on her blog, either.." Marinette whipped around to face her glasses-clad friend, scrutinizing her face. "Did she?"

Alya put her hands up in mock surrender.

Marinette slowly turned back to Adrien, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Oh, I, uh- I saw you.. from.. my window?" he finished lamely. He inwardly cringed.

Marinette blinked. "Oh, uh, okay! Well, yeah.. I'm good. Th-Thanks for asking."

Adrien gave a hesitant smile, wiggling his fingers in a farewell. "Well, see you in class, then."

Marinette widely beamed and waved. "Yeah... see you.."

She kept waving long after he left. Alya sighed and facepalmed.

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Adrien frowned as he walked away from Marinette and Alya. How could he have been so stupid? Of course she was fine! Ladybug's magic had fixed everything. Besides, he wasn't even there- well, at least Adrien wasn't there.

Adrien's eyebrows furrowed. He couldn't help it, could he? Marinette's fall had looked so painful. And she'd disappeared right after! He itched to ask her where to, or how, or why, but those were things only Chat Noir could ask- and Chat Noir didn't know Marinette well enough to ask those kinds of questions.

Adrien sighed, ruffling his hair in the process of scratching his head, as he sat down in the vacant classroom earlier than usual. The teacher was out for a bathroom break.

"Why did she even pull that stunt?" Adrien mused after looking around to check for anybody. Plagg popped out of his bag.

"I think you should be asking HOW. I mean, it was a tiny bead and she threw it into a gun. Is that normal?" Plagg went back inside Adrien's bag and furrowed around before popping back out. "Got any cheese?" He was nonchalant.

Adrien didn't reply to his question because of what Plagg had said before. "You're right.. it's not normal for an ordinary citizen to perform something like that!" Adrien's eyes widened. He sat upright in his seat. "And the bead she threw was the same one Ladybug pulled out after! Either Marinette is really good friends with Ladybug and can pull stunts.. or-"

Adrien's train of thought was cut off by a blaring bell, signaling the start of school and passing period. Plagg instantly zipped back into Adrien's bag as pattering feet could be heard and the door to the classroom was pulled open, allowing a stream of students to walk in. Amongst the crowd was their teacher, her heels clacking against the tile floor. Class was about to begin.

Adrien sighed and rested his cheek on his palm. What he had just been thinking about had slipped from his mind, like water from cupped hands. Odd.

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Marinette knew better. Yes, she was completely and utterly floored by Adrien's presence, and her train of thought usually went down the drain when that happened, but this time was different.

"'Is your arm okay?'"

Marinette frowned.

"Girl, are you okay?" Alya nudged Marinette, who snapped out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good. I.. just need to go to the bathroom. I'll see you in class?"

Alya raised an eyebrow. "Hopefully, if you aren't LATE."

Marinette rolled her eyes, already walking away. "I won't be."

After Alya turned her back, Marinette rushed towards the bathrooms, flinging the door open and heading into one of the stalls. After she locked the door, she pulled the toilet seat down and sat on it.

Thinking time.

"How did he even know my arm got hurt?"

Tikki zipped out of Marinette's purse. "I think you should be asking WHY. After all, it wasn't on the news, since they usually count on Alya. Not even your parents knew!"

Marinette vigorously nodded. If they DID know.. Marinette would probably be under something akin to house arrest, despite her parents' good intentions.

"Right.. and I know he can see the whole city of Paris through his window! Chat Noir and I, we fought Volpina in his room..."

Tikki lowered her eyes to the ground in thought. "Unless Adrien has super vision- or some really good binoculars.. then he couldn't have seen you!"

Marinette giggled. "I don't think he wastes his time looknig at the streets of Paris through some strong binoculars."

Tikki also laughed. "That is pretty silly."

Marinette's laughter eased down. "The only person who knew what happened was Chat Noir.. either Adrien and Chat Noir are really good friends who share EVERYTHING-"

Tikki intervened. "I doubt it."

Marinette's bluebell eyes widened. "Then that means-"

Marinette was cut off by a loud bell, signaling the start of the first passing period to get to class. Marinette jumped up from the toilet seat. "Hide, Tikki!" Tikki zipped back inside Marinette's coin purse as the girl threw open the stall door and headed out into the replete hallways.

Odd thing was, no matter how hard Marinette thought about it, she couldn't think of what she'd just been talking about with Tikki. It had escaped her mind like a dream she forgot after waking up.

'I'll have to ask Tikki about it later..' 


	16. Surgeon- Part 3

I'm back.. fufufufuffu You know Happy from Fairy Tail? He laughes like that. fufufufu..

ANYWAYS! Thank you so much for the reviews, I was like- huwhat? Because I got NINE reviews within the first few hours and then a TON more. like, holy schzmadoodles (that will be my word). Also, I AM SO SO SORRY BUT I'LL NEED TIME FOR A FOURTH PART... Don't kill me. I'm also using "adrienetteaddict"'s idea of a new Miraculous in the next chapter, so I can do that suggestion as well. Two birds hit with one rock! Or something like that.. that's kinda gory.

And in the comments, you guys brought up something really interesting that I didn't even realize I'd written: brain washing, or magic barriers. THAT IS SO AWESOME, I'm just itching to write it! I didn't even realize I'd done that, but hey. Great things come from mistakes (i.e: chocolate chip cookies).

~In this snippet, magic tears and melds at once.~

Master Fu stroked his beard, carefully evaluating what had just happened. Wayzz was also deep in thought, flying in circles around the quaint parlor without knowing it. Finally, the green kwami spoke.

"There are holes in the barrier, Master."

Master Fu paused his beard-stroking. "I'm well aware, Wayzz. We were able to stop it this time, to the convenience of a school bell all the same, but next time.."

Wayzz sighed, floating down to his charge's shoulder. "It will be the last straw," the kwami finished. Fu nodded.

"One more thought on the matter and the holes will meld, destroying the barrier completely." Fu versed.

"In that case, we don't have time!" His kwami exploded. "The only thing they've been thinking about is each other. It's inevitable!"

Fu simply nodded along. "Yes, that's true, but.." A smile grew on the old man's face. "If fate leads them so strongly, even against the most powerful magic barrier, then it musn't be for naught."

Wayzz was silent, blinking in shock. Then his shocked expression melted into a sad smile. "Almost every time, Fu. They couldn't handle it, and they hadn't even done something like break the barrier such as these two. Hawkmoth will surely notice the rift in the magical barrier, and then we'll all be in danger."

Fu's face also dropped a little- which was really a big deal, since he was usually so cheerful and there was frequently a smile on his face.

This only happened for a split second before his face reverted back to it's old self- cheerful and carefree. "Almost," Fu stressed, "don't forget the rest of them. Hawkmoth is just another villain waiting to be defeated. These kids.."

Fu headed over to the ancient music box, tenderly stroking its intricate cover. Little white dots were appearing woven into the elaborate design, almost like tiny little holes.

"They're far more than meet the eye."

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All through class, Marinette couldn't pay attention. She kept on thinking- what was it again? What had she been talking about with Tikki, in the bathroom? Was it about arms and limbs? Or that stunt she pulled? The Agreste Mansion? She couldn't put her finger on it at all..

Marinette sighed and shook her head, grabbing her pencil and trying to focus on the Language Arts worksheet beneath her nose.  
'I can ask Tikki later.. she must remember.'

Meanwhile, Adrien was facing the same problem; be it focusing on different kinds of poetry, or what he'd been talking about with Plagg. It was the school bell that had supposedly erased away his previous thoughts- he knew that much. But that wasn't what he wanted to know. He felt like he had almost made a breakthrough, he'd almost discovered something vital.. but something was stopping him, and now, it was his lack of memory.

'I'll just ask Plagg. Maybe a piece of that stinky cheese will help him talk.'

However, one thing these two teenagers didn't know was that Tikki and Plagg were eternally grateful to the school bell.

Plagg's luminous green eyes blinked in the dark of Adrien's school bag, deep in thought. 'We were this close..' Plagg thought, eyes narrowing. 'Tikki, you'd better not let anything slip.'

At the same time, Tikki was staring into space, in the confines of Marinette's cushy coin purse. 'Plagg.. you'd better act like you've got no idea.'

Both kwamis let out a light sigh. 'A revolution is starting.'

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Marinette rushed home that day after the final bell rang, telling Alya that she had tons of homework and a designing project she needed to work on, so her schedule was full. Her best friend just rolled her eyes and waved her off. ("Crazy girl.")

In a haste, Marinette pressed two sloppy kisses to her parent's cheeks when she reached the bakery, feeding them the same lie about the extra work, and practically flew up the stairs to her room. Once she was there, she opened her coin purse to let Tikki out.

"Tikki," she breathed. "You've got to remember, right?"

Tikki blinked her doe eyes and cocked her head innocently. "What? Remember what?"

Marinette blinked, furrowing her eyebrows, and plopped down onto her bed, not looking away from Tikki. She twiddled her thumbs in her lap.

"Remember? We were talking about something in the bathroom! I can't remember what.. you must, right?"

Tikki frowned. "I think you need to lay down and rest, Marinette."

"Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed. "I know it was something... something important, I almost found it out, but then there was the bell- and- and it's all a blur.."

Tikki sadly smiled, although Marinette couldn't see the sorrow. 'This is for your own good.'

"Sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about! Maybe you'll remember after a rest- after all, it's been a long day for you."

Marinette's face melted into one of disappointment. A few moments later, she yawned. "I guess so," she mumbled, before heading off onto the chaise in her balcony for a quick nap.

Once she was sure that Marinette was asleep, Tikki softly sighed. "No matter how hard I try, she's getting closer." Tikki stared off into space. "I hope things are going better for you.. Plagg."

They were not.

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Adrien had never asked the Gorilla to take the short route home, since he kind of liked looking out the window of his limo and seeing people go about their normal (at least, more than his) lives in Paris.

So, when Adrien asked for the shortest route home, the Gorilla had let loose a small sign of emotion: surprise. A widening of the eyes, the jaw slackening. Of course, Gorilla's face instantly settled into its normal grace less than a second later, but for Adrien, it was like seeing a myriad of emotions pass across the impassive man's face for the first time. It made him wonder how much he really didn't know, school bell interfering or not.

Adrien didn't comment on it, though, and once he got home a few minutes later, he thanked his driver and rushed inside. Nathalie simply raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't comment on his haste.

Once Adrien was inside his room, he practically ripped his bag open and let Plagg lazily float out.

"Plagg!" Adrien asked, fairly excited. He could sense that what he'd been thinking of had been something huge.

"Whaaaat..." Plagg cracked his humongous mouth open, engulfing his face in a yawn. He secretly cracked one eye open a sliver to see Adrien.

Adrien rolled his eyes and sat down on his white sofa. He twiddled his thumbs. "You remember when we were talking in the morning, in the empty classroom? I remember that I found something out- well, ALMOST, until the school bell somehow.. erased it or something." Adrien frowned. He shook his head. "Anyways, you must remember, right? You're a.. a.. super wise kwami."

Plagg shook his head. "Nah, the wise one would be Ladybug's kwami. I'm just the strong one with the rock hard abs." He snickered.

Adrien didn't find this funny (Plagg couldn't see for the love of anything, why he couldn't) and instead his lips quirked downwards in a frown. "Do you remember?"

Plagg gulped- thankfully, this notion wasn't visible to Adrien. 'Sorry, kid, but this is for the better.'

"I don't remember stuff that never happened, smart as I am," Plagg mordantly said. He lazily spun in a circle midair. "Sorry to burst your bubble."

Adrien blinked his green eyes slowly, twice. "It happened, I can remember.. I just.."

Plagg looked at Adrien sideways, through one open eye. "Forgot?" The kwami supplied.

Adrien huffed, falling back on the sofa. He draped an arm over his eyes. "Maybe I'm just making stuff up," the blonde mumbled.

"Maybe," Plagg lightly scoffed. "You need to sleep on it. Oh, by the way, the Camemberts in that fancy fridge of yours, right?"

"Uh.. yeah," Adrien finally said, dozing off. He didn't know that Plagg was already aware of that.

Plagg stared at his charge, peacefully dozing on the white sofa. He didn't blink his large green eyes. "It keeps getting worse." Plagg muttered. His tail flicked back and forth. "Hope your holder is giving you an easier time.. Tikki."

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The next day, Marinette and Adrien were in low spirits. Alya was especially worried, since Marinette wasn't fawning over Adrien. She just had her head in her hands, blankly staring at a worksheet with eyes glazed over.

"Marinette.." Alya whispered. She poked the girl in the side. Marinette jolted and her head whipped around before her tired eyes landed on Alya. "Huh? Oh.. sorry, was I dozing off?"

Alya shuddered. "Your eyes were OPEN."

Marinette cringed. "Okay, that's creepy."

Alya sighed, shaking her head. "What's with you and Adrien today? You're both tired to the bone."

Marinette blinked, startled. She looked ahead to the boy in front of her, who was dozing behind an open book. Nino was staring at him, incredulous, as if he couldn't believe that ADRIEN, of all people, was dozing off in class.

"Is he okay?" Marinette worriedly whispered to Alya. Mrs. Bustier's eyes landed on the duo and they instantly sprung apart, hovering their pencil tips over their worksheet and pretending to think. Mrs. Bustier shook her head, turning away.

Marinette instantly leaned back towards Alya, who lightly scoffed. "Ask that about yourself! Seriously, girl, tell me what's got you so down."

Marinette's eyes slightly fell and she eased back towards her own seat. "It.. It's nothing."

Alya frowned, but didn't ask any more about it.

Nino was also worried about his best friend, but he didn't ask any questions either. Not through any of their classes, not through brunch or lunch. Alya and Nino kept quiet most of the day because they knew that their friends didn't- or couldn't- talk about it. They were just that close.

In the last period of the day, Marinette was completely awoken, but not exactly in a good way. Unfortunately for her, they were in the middle of Bio week. It took almost all of Marinette's strength to not puke right then and there when they had to cut open the fetal pig's stomach and start taking organs out. However, Alya was Marinette's lab partner- she was definitely lucky there, since Alya was anything but squeamish.

Marinette's attention snapped to Miss. Mendeliev when her voice beckoned her, and she all too eagerly dropped the pig she was helping Alya with (ignoring her annoyed protests), practically skipping over to the stern teacher.

Miss. Mendeliev handed Marinette an empty tub. "Here, take this to the office. We need more scapels for tomorrow- honestly, do they really expect us to cut organs like the heart out using scissors? Pathetic.." Miss. Mendeliev then went on to mutter about how pathetic scissors were and how they could barely cut into organs. Marinette almost gagged and rushed away from the teacher, flinging the door open and stepping into the hallways. She gratefully inhaled, appreciating the lack of pig-odor.

"Oh, and Marinette!" Miss. Mendeliev's voice rang out and Marinette opened the door to the classroom, poking her head in. "Hurry up, will you? The day is about to end."

Startled, Marinette looked towards the clock- she was right. There were six minutes left in class.

Marinette went back out and rushed towards the office. She flung the door open and set the tub down on the front table, tapping her foot while waiting for someone to attend to her. By the time anyone got to her, there were four minutes left.

Marinette, getting more and more irked by the second, finally snatched the tub from the all-too-patient office lady and rushed back towards her class. Right as she was nearing her class, the final bell rang and a stream of students rushed out. Marinette exasperatedly fought through the swarm of students, accidentally knocking shoulders quite roughly with another person and falling to the ground. Despite her lack of luck, the scapels stayed inside the tub. She looked up to apologize (or rat out on them, depending on her mood and who it was), but was startled to see green eyes staring back at her.

She'd knocked into Adrien.

The stream of students around them dwindled and, soon after, disappeared, as Marinette blabbered out an apology. "I-I'm so sorry! Not on purpose- It wasn't on purpose- you see, I'm in a rush.." Marinette faltered, face palming internally.

Adrien gently smiled, holding out a hand to help Marinette up. "No, it's fine. Is your arm good? That's the same one that got hurt, right?"

His eyes widened the second the words left his lips.

"Yeah.." Marinette's jaw slackened. "But how do you.." She didn't take his hand.

Adrien was silent- his train of thought was going haywire. Inside his jacket, Plagg's mouth dropped open.

"Wait.. you threw the bead.. your arm.." He blinked. His head was almost hurting from all his thoughts scrambling to get in order.

Back at the massage place, the little while holes in the music box were slowly slowly growing bigger.

"How would you know.. unless.." Marinette eyes suddenly went wide as saucers.

Their thoughts were becoming complete from the day before, and this time, there was nothing in the way to stop it. The ring on Adrien's extended hand was suddenly very, very interesting to Marinette.

"Chat Noir?" Marinette whispered.  
Adrien was speechless. "Then you're..." The name felt difficult to say. "Ladybug?"

All of a sudden, a bright white light erupted from Marinette's earrings and Adrien's ring. Marinette's hand flew up to her ear, gingerly touching her earrings, while Adrien looked down at his ring in disbelief.

On Ladybug's earrings, five searing hot, white spots appeared on them- just like when she was transformed. Slowly, the dots melded together, and a blinding light bursted across the Miraculous. The same thing was happening to Adrien's ring- a paw print appeared in scalding white light. Adrien could tell it was hot, by the heat emanating off of it, but he was too shocked to touch it. The paw print slowly melded together in a bright, white ball of light, and bursted across the ring like it had across Marinette's earrings.

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Wayzz and Master Fu couldn't do anything but watch as the white dots on the music box slowly grew bigger and bigger until they touched and melded together, finally condensing into a brilliant ball of light and erupting across the quaint music box. The end result was a beautiful silver music box, engraved with all the stories of past Miraculous holders and their stories.

"This is new," Wayzz commented in shock, whizzing around the box. "It's never.. how did they.."

Master Fu shook his head, lookng out the window instead. In the distance, he could see a huge black cloud. Only it wasn't a cloud- it was a mass of fluttering black akuma.

"He's found out already," Master Fu darkly said under his breath. "Kudos to him for that."

Wayzz was speechless, gawking at the huge mass casting shadows on Paris.

"Wayzz. Transform me."

A/N: Alright, so we got the reveal, didn't we? :D This chapter was all the nice stuff, next chapter is gonna be some real stuff. Like drama and epic fights :O. Send suggestions about what Hawkmoth's huge attack will be- imprisoning Paris, bringing akumas back, mass akumatization, what? I'm kind of lost on that, tbh.

Anyways, I appreciate all the reviews and stuff! Next chapter will continue this story but I will use "adrienetteaddict"'s idea of new Miraculouses. See you all later! :D 


	17. Surgeon- Part 4 -DISCONTINUED-

I'm back!

Okay, rest assured, this isn't the last part of this story, but I'm going to do some light AU's and stuff before I finish this off with one last chapter. To Guest, who commented that this is "overextended": I do kind of agree with you, but I wanted to add in "adrienetteaddict"'s idea of new miraculous and it's kind of difficult to do that in a one shot, or one chapter nonetheless. So I thought, what better way to do that than add on to this story?! :D

-P.S. I'm sorry for the overall crapiness of this chapter. My computer was out for a few days and so it's late, but fasting has also made my mindset a little wobbly :/-

Remember, I'm getting on to those suggestions. OH! And Ramadan Mubarak for any Muslim readers out there. I know the first day of fasting started June 6, but you guys can power through this month! And then it's Eid! :D

~In this snippet, new powers are uncovered- and so are secrets.~

Marinette and Adrien could only gape. From their revealed identities, to the burst of light from their Miraculous, it was difficult to get some words in.

However, both of the teenagers were snapped out of their reverie by a huge crash and following shrieks and shouts.

They only had to share a glance before they rushed down the stairs, across the gym, and to the school doors. Marinette wordlessly pushed the doors open, squinting in the light.

Then she gasped.

Adrien and Marinette stared on speechlessly, in complete horror, at the scene before them. A massive swarm of fluttering akuma hovered in the sky, their beating wings sending vibrations out through Paris. One particular boy cowered in fear, wide-eyed, as suddenly-

"NO!" Marinette dashed out the school and barreled into the little boy, sending them flying across the pavement. The mass of akuma that had headed for the boy instead crashed down into the ground with full force, sending rubble flying. Marinette curled herself over the boy, shielding him from the rocks with her body. The mass of akuma instantly rushed away to a different part of the city.

Marinette winced as the felt a larger rock rip into her jacket and lightly graze her arm. Luckily for her, that was the brunt of it. She slowly peeled herself away from the young boy and put her hands on his shoulders, gazing into his scared, brown eyes. No big cuts were visible on him, at least.

"Are you okay?" Marinette gently asked as to not scare him. She kneeled lower to get herself on his level.

'He has to believe that everything is fine. He can't be scared, not like this.'

Marinette cringed as an unwanted thought forced its way into her head.

'If you're scared, then how must he be faring? If Ladybug is scared, then how will the citizens...'

"Y-Yes.." A wavering voice brought Marinette out of her thoughts. She blinked twice.

"Are your parents around?" Marinette asked, looking around for any worried adults rushing their way. Nada.

"M-My parents were o-out at a m-meeting," the boy hiccuped. Tears were streaming down his face. "I-I went to the park with.. m-my babysitter, but- but then this.." He cut off, hiccuping in an attempt to swallow his sobs. Marinette hugged him and gently shushed him.

"Marinette!" Marinette turned her head to see Adrien running his way towards her. Suddenly, it hit her with full force: Chat Noir was Adrien... oh, crap.

Marinette instantly whipped her head back to the little boy. She could feel heat rise to her face.

"O-Oh, hey!"

'Just pretend he's Chat! No, wait, he is Chat. Then talk to the Chat side! Wait, what?'

"Marinette?" Adrien snapped his fingers in front of her face, making the girl snap out of her thoughts. She took a deep breath.

"Are you okay? I think I saw a rock hit you!" Adrien worriedly asked. His bright green eyes bore into hers and Marinette almost forgot how to speak. Or breathe.

'Remember, this is Chat! Goofy cat with bad jokes!'

"I'm good," Marinette replied as calmly as possible. "But this boy.." She looked down at the person in her arms. "We need to find his parents."

Marinette suddenly felt a jostle in her coin purse. To her shock, Tikki managed to open the top and the kwami flew out.

"Tikki!" Marinette hissed, jutting her chin out towards the boy. Tikki shook her little head. "It's okay, he's asleep."

Surprised, Marinette leaned the boy back a little so she could see his face. Sure enough, he had a serene look and was breathing evenly.

Adrien looked surprised. "Is that your kwami?" he asked Marinette. She gave him a hesitant nod, looking between him and Tikki. Tikki cheerfully flew up to Adrien's face. "Hi, Adrien! I'm Tikki." She stuck out an arm, mimicking a handshake gesture.

Adrien laughed a little and reached up, shaking Tikki's arm with two fingers. "Nice to meet you, Tikki." Adrien then looked down at Marinette, still kneeling on the pavement. "How is your kwami so nice? Plagg is a la-"

"Whatever he's saying about me, it isn't true!" A black blur shot out of Adrien's chest pocket, zooming around Tikki. "Long time no see, Tikki!"

Tikki smiled. "You too, Plagg." Then her smile melded into a serious expression. "We can't waste any time. Today.."

Plagg crossed his arms and hovered midair opposite Tikki, a contemplative expression on his face. His head was inclined lower, bringing out his luminous green eyes.

'He looks kind of cool,' Adrien thought to himself, then immediately shook the thought out of his head. If his kwami ever heard that from him, his ego would inflate to no end.

"..today is the Big Day," Plagg finished.

Marinette and Adrien blinked with confusion. "Care to elaborate?" Marinette prodded.

Tikki and Plagg lowered themselves to get on Marinette and Adrien's eye level. Plagg nodded. "Sure, I'll say more. Because I'm an awesome, kind kwami."

Adrien spluttered. Tikki sighed and rolled her eyes.

"ANYWAYS," Plagg said loudly, "the Big Day is the day that the strongest magical barriers are broken on the miraculous."

Tikki nodded. "In other words, the day Ladybug and Chat Noir, the strongest heroes, figure out each other's identities. This usually causes a rift in the magical barriers, but this time.."

Marinette's heart panged with worry. "This time what?"

Tikki's eyes narrowed. "This time, something new happened. The barrier- it burst open with such a force that Hawkmoth noticed."

Adrien shook his head, golden hair bouncing. "I don't get why he's attacking, then. So what if we-"

Adrien couldn't bring himself to say the words 'found out'. Yes, he was ecstatic, but not more than he was shocked. Right now, the first priority was defeating Hawkmoth. If he even thought about Marinette.. he'd fall into a hole and never come out. A red, stammering, blushing hole.

Marinette thickly swallowed, sharing the same sentiment as Adrien. She couldn't afford to think about things like that right now.

"Hawkmoth attacked because he has complete faith in your failure," Tkki said. Marinette and Adrien blanched.

"He thinks that if you were to find out each others' identities, you wouldn't be able to work together." Plagg versed. Then, for a rare moment, Plagg genuinely smiled. "But obviously that old geezer has got it wrong."

Tikki grinned. "You can use it to your advantage. Out of all the miraculous holders, you two are one of the best working pairs of all time. Don't let a little knowledge stop you."

Marinette and Adrien met eyes for a second before abruptly looking away, faces red. 'Easier said than done..'

Marinette felt the boy stirring in her arms, and she jolted. She almost called out to Tikki to hide in her purse, but she gnashed her teeth with a final resolve.

"There's no time to spare," Marinette said, determined. She sucked a breath in- what she was going to do next had her heart pounding just with the thought of it, but as Tikki said, she wouldn't let a little knowledge stop her. Besides.. it wasn't going to stay a secret for long. She wouldn't waste time finding a spot to hide when there was a cloud of evil butterflies in Paris smashing down into the streets.

She slowly stood up, letting the boy sit on the pavement as he stirred, and brushed her hair behind her right ear.

"Alright, Tikki," she told the red kwami. Tikki didn't look surprised with what Marinette was about to do- instead, she looked proud.  
Adrien watched on in confusion.

"I know we're going out to defeat Hawkmoth, but I hope this isn't the last time I say this," Marinette softly told Tikki. Tikki's smile widened, eyes sparkling.

"I know, Marinette. Now lets get out there!"

Marinette exhaled, closed her eyes, and then smiled. She reopened them.

"TIKKI, SPOTS ON!"

Marinette let the magic wash over her, transforming her into Ladybug. Her shout awoke the little boy and he watched on in confusion, wide-eyed, as the last of the magic sparkled around Ladybug. Adrien's expression was something akin to the boy's- shocked... but awed.

Ladybug turned around to face Adrien, who was gaping. She could feel her knees threatening to buckle.

"I'm going to find his parents," she gestured to the boy. "And then chase after the akuma cloud. Can you get there in the meantime?"

Plagg had to thump himself against Adrien so that Adrien could muster a response: a feeble nod. He was still shocked- never had he seen the transformation for Ladybug. He knew Marinette was Ladybug, but seeing her.. it was..

Adrien shook his head. Again, if he thought on it, he'd fall into a hole and never be able to climb out. "Y-yeah-" Adrien coughed. "I'll get there."

Ladybug smiled in amusement before kneeling down to the boy who was still staring in wonder. "Ladybug?" He said in awe.

"Hey," Ladybug smiled. She held out a hand. "Want to help a hero save Paris?"

The boy blinked before grinning and jumping up. "Yes, yes, yes! Totally!"

Ladybug grinned as well and hooked her arm around his waist, lifting him up. She whipped her yoyo out onto a nearby rooftop. "Hold on tight," she instructed, smiling as she felt his arms tighten considerably around her own. "We're going to find your parents, and I'm going to need your help."

Ladybug tugged on her yoyo and she was sailing off into the sky.

Adrien watched her until she was a dot in the distance with- he would protest later- dreamy eyes. Plagg finally got sick of it and popped out of his pocket, bumping himself into Adrien's face. The boy went cross-eyed and swatted at the kwami.

"Hey, what do you think I am, a mosquito?!" Plagg snapped. "I am a KWAMI of supreme powers. I was trying to wake you up from your lovey-dovey state."

Adrien went red and spluttered. "I-I was NOT in a-"

Plagg waved an arm in the air. "Sure, whatever, let's just GO! There's a cloud of nasty butterflies waiting for us."

Adrien rolled his eyes before smiling. "You know, I hope this isn't the last time either. I got used to the stink of Camembert."

Plagg smirked, staring at Adrien through slitted green eyes. "You mean the perfume. The scent of the gooey goodness. The-"

Adrien exhaled. "Alright, alright. PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!"

"-great delicacy-AUUGHH!" Plagg was sucked into Adrien's ring and his transformation sequence took place, transforming him into Chat Noir. With his heightened sense of vision, Chat was able to pick out the cloud of butterflies in the far distance.

"No doubt they're attacking civilians again," he muttered, already grasping his baton. He took a running start before leaping onto a rooftop. From there, he traveled from roof to roof, leaping great distances at a time.

In no time, Chat Noir caught up with the cloud of butterflies in front of the Louvre and instantly used his baton to vault himself in front of a gawking civilian. "Go, go go!" He shouted. "Get as far away from here as you can!"

The civilian blinked before turning tail and sprinting off.

Chat Noir turned back around to face the cloud of akumas. Abruptly, he heard a beeping emanating from his baton and he held it up to answer Ladybug's call.

"Hey," she greeted. The boy wasn't with her anymore. "Don't let yourself get any negative emotions, no matter what. Otherwise you become prey to them."

"Got it," Chat said. He almost added a 'My Lady', but cut off before he could permanantly humiliate himself.

Chat tucked his baton back into his belt and scanned the area. He had to evacuate all the civilians before somebody got seriously hurt.

Chat leaped out into the clearing. "EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!" Chat shouted. All the people turned their eyes to him. He even heard one person gleefully call out, 'Chat Noir is here! We're safe!'

Chat shook his head. "No, not exactly. Listen, Hawkmoth is putting all his power into this one attack on Paris!" Chat Noir narrowed his eyes. "You all need to leave this city as fast as you can!" When nobody moved, Chat cupped his gloved hands around his mouth. "GO!"

Simultaneously, everyone turned and either ran or made their way to vehicles, ushering themselves inside and speeding off. Chat watched with satisfaction. When the clearing was good and vacant, he turned back around to the throng of butterflies.

"Chat Noir," a sultry, oily voice said somewhere within the horde of akuma. "What a pleasure, I can finally see you in person!" The voice sounded gleeful, but somehow in a... sadistic way. It made Chat shiver.

However, he deemed the idea of keeping his cool. "Really, if that's all you wanted you could have watched Ladybug and I fight all your akumas.. Hawkmoth." He tried talking in a light tone but it just came out flat.

"What a hassle. I prefer seeing them come back with the Miraculous, but obviously that was just wishful thinking."

Chat bristled; he hadn't missed the way Hawkmoth had mentioned 'was', as if he'd succeed now with all doubtlessness.

"I don't just use people's negative emotions," Hawkmoth began. Chat could see the butterflies slowly shifting and parting. "I bring them out. The real power of the butterfly is to pick a champion to fight evil, but what evil would there be to fight?"

Chat Noir narrowed his eyes and gnashed his jaw, ignoring the double question that made his head spin. "Don't ask me," he hissed.

Finally the butterflies parted completely to reveal an incredibly tall man with a dark, tight mask over his face, a very sharp suit, and a scepter. Hawkmoth in the flesh.

"But why shouldn't I.. Adrien?"

The reaction was instantaneous. Chat Noir's eyes widened like saucers, and negative emotions wormed their way into him- fear, suspicion, most of all ANGER- how was he figured out?!-

"THERE!" Hawkmoth roared. He swung his scepter up to point at Chat Noir, and a deep purple butterfly shot out of it at an enthralling speed, making it impossible for Chat to look away-

As sharp as a knife, a yoyo cut through the air and intercepted the butterfly's path, capturing it. Chat felt his anger simmer down as he whipped his head to the right, seeing Ladybug- Marinette- jump off the roof of the nearby building and land with a crouch, gripping her yoyo tightly. She pressed the center dot and stared at the pure, white butterfly as it flapped away. She even seemed, dare he say, smug.

Chat instantly felt his anger being replaced by something much more. Something more powerful, but much warmer. He couldn't put a finger on what it was, but there wasn't exactly the time for that either.

Ladybug spared Chat a glance worth a million words before glaring back at Hawkmoth. "Your plans will fail, Hawkmoth," she said with such courage and certitude that Chat wondered if she could see into the future. "You may as well surrender now before things get more serious than they already are."

It was silent for a few moments before Hawkmoth burst out into laughter- his type of laughter, which wasn't very real. It was more like a sneer, if that was any way to describe it, a mocking, snarling laugh.

"Odd, I was just about to say that same thing.." Hawkmoth folded both his hands over the glass orb at the top of his scepter. "You can come out now, dear akuma."

Chat suddenly stiffened, as Hawkmoth's previous words came back to him. 'I don't just use people's negative emotions. I bring them out.'

"Chat? What's going on?" Ladybug uneasily said. Chat looked her way and found himself instantly lost in the depths of her cerulean eyes. He looked away before he could do something stupid.

"He said.." Chat thickly swallowed. "He doesn't only use negative emotions, he brings them back out." As soon as he said the words out loud, the truth hit him so hard his head was split with a sharp pain for the shortest of moments.

"So that could only mean-"

A roaring sound suddenly came from all directions, making the two heroes look around everywhere in alarm.

Ladybug gasped. "Look there!" Chat instantly peered the direction she was pointing, and blanched.

First came the Bubbler. After him followed Mr. Pigeon, Copycat, Stormy Weather, and Rogercop. From another direction, Antibug walked in line with Simonsays, Princess Fragnrance, Vanisher, and Lady Wifi. A huge group of villains- including Evillustrator, Horrificator, Mime, Timebreaker, The Pharaoh, Dark Cupid, Darkblade, and Magician of Misfortune were stalking in from yet another direction. Up in the sky, Volpina gleefully flew, watching Ladybug and Chat Noir, until she finally sped towards the ground and landed with a huge 'thump' on her feet. She strode up to Ladybug, simpering, and looked the heroine straight in the eyes.

Ladybug was afraid.

"So nice to see you again, Ladybug," Volpina said- only loud enough for Ladybug and Chat Noir to hear. "Care to get the party started?"

A/N: Ok. Yes. Sorry. It's so lame D: I KNOWWW. I'm covering an AU and some light, funny chapters after this before I add the last chapter to this story. I was late since my computer decided to conveniently break down, so again, sorry for the delay and overall crappiness of this chapter. (excuse the mild lango)

I don't even know how this ended up the way it did, but.. what's done is done :-l

I'll probably upload the next chapter super quick to make up for the delay. Three days, maybe. wishful thinking *sigh*

ANYWAYS, I'll see you laterr :D Ciao 


	18. Unwind: MLB

OHMYGOSHIAMSOFRICKINSORRY

YES I UNDERSTAND IT HAS BEEN WELL OVER TWO MONTHS AUGHH. PREPARE FOR RANT. (RANT IS IN BOLD)

Okay, so our computer- remember that crappy one I told you about, that also crashed once? Yeah, that one-, it crashed AGAIN. :) And guess what? We couldn t fix it! Wooo!

And my father saw no reason to buy a new laptop when summer had just begun for us, so.. yeah. I really couldn t do much about it! Not to mention we were pretty busy during the summer, with Ramadan for the first month and then I got art classes and we went to a few places too.

AND GUESS WHAT :((( 3000+ words of MLB AU is lost! It was turning out to be pretty good too. Sigh.. I guess things happen for a reason.. There was no real plot anyways I guess so now I can make it better! :D

Right now I m going to do an Unwind AU. If you don t know, then Unwind is an AMAZING book by Neal Shusterman. I ll put a summary down below. It is a DEFINITE read, especially since it is the only one book that I am able to reread EVERY SINGLE PAGE OF. It s chilling to the bone. I might continue this if people ask, but after that five-parter thing I started awhile back *nervous cough*

(Oh and guess what else? I can italicize now! Yay ._.)

Okay, so the summary of Unwind: In the second civil war, also known as the Heartland war, two armies savagely fought. One was Pro-Life, and one was Pro-Choice. The war went on for a long time before an agreement that satisfied both sides settled. For every single child, their lives were to be inviolable until the age of 13. Between the ages of 13 and 18, a child s guardian can choose to Unwind their child...in other words, have them taken apart piece by piece.

This chapter is gonna be a little dark. A nice, long chapter to compensate for my time gone.

~In this snippet, the question arises: what is the value of a soul?~

On the day of Marinette's parents' funerals, Marinette somehow knew things would go downhill.

She was clumsy. She wasn't perfect in her academics, only just respectable. Her behavior was exemplary, but definitely not in front of Chloe Bourgeois, daughter of one of the most influential and rich men to live in Europe. She made the perfect choice of an enemy- although, in her defense, she barely had to think much to pick. And nobody knew how she occasionally stopped the rare criminal since she always stayed anonymous in her signature red and black cloak, not wanting to attract unwanted attention.

She now wished that she had. Especially now that she'd met a mysterious boy in shiny black clothing as her other persona. She could never meet him again, and she did wish to see his eyes again- the deep emerald green color that she was sure captivated many. He was one of her only friends in this imperfect world- at least she hoped he was.

Her uncle couldn't take her in. As much as he wanted to, he lived halfway across the world and he had a professional career to uphold. It was the same for her grandparents- they were too far and too feeble.

After them, Marinette had nobody. Nobody except a kindly woman with one son who decided to take her in, so kindly that she signed the Unwind order and directed the money coming in from the bakery line Marinette's parents had built to go to her own household. It was the cruel reality- and the governmental laws as well.

Another negative thing about Marinette? She snooped around. Marinette wasn't supposed to know that she was going to be unwound, but while looking for a roll of tape in the woman's office, she saw the classic paper buried deep in a drawer. The pink copy of the Unwind order. The white copy was off to the authorities. The yellow would be with Marinette until she was under the knife, and the pink would stay with her guardian as a reminder of what she'd done. Marinette hoped her guardian would feel the regret of what she'd done every time she looked at the pink piece of paper, the feel of pain ripping through her heart that hopefully couldn't be reversed.

Marinette somehow expected the fake woman to send her off, as she stood in front of her parents' graves for the last night. 'Two honorable, exceptionally talented bakers who saved customers in a fire before themselves. To find souls as loving and compassionate as theirs is rare. Rest in peace.'

That same night, also the night that the Juvey-Cops were coming for her, Marinette dressed in black and took a backpack to fill it with her necessities. As much as she wished she could dress in her red and black cloak, many AWOLS- runaway unwinds, or 'Absent Without Leave'- had already tried that in attempts to act as a phony hero. Juvey-Cops had the catching of AWOLS down to an art, so Marinette had to settle with running away quickly and precisely. That was her style.

Marinette was surprised when she found herself filling her backpack with only a few things. Extra clothing that she'd bunched up and tossed in. Bags and cans of food that she'd been about to donate for school, and six water bottles. Her cell phone. And lastly, a photo of her parents bear-hugging her. The petite Chinese woman and bulky French man are smiling and laughing in the frozen memory as they squish Marinette between them, who is grinning like a fool. Marinette meekly stroked the glass of the photo; there were no tears left in her eyes to cry.

Finally, she gently put the photo in her backpack and zipped it up. She considered, for a moment, saying goodbye to her foster brother. He'd been well to her in her time at the household. However, Marinette instantly decided against it, for he'd definitely shout out and ruin her chances of survival before she even began.

Quietly, Marinette unlatched her window and opened it, breathing in the cool night air. This would be the last time she'd do it from her room- at least, the room that her foster mother had provided.

Marinette waited a few seconds before taking a deep breath and leaping out, somersaulting on the ground to break her fall. She got up with trembling legs and slowly turned around. She took one last look at the house..

.. and then she ran.

~Adrien~

If people were to hear that Adrien Agreste, cherished and famous model of France, was going to be unwound.. there would be an uproar. Half would scramble for his parts- "His deep emerald eyes, maybe his golden hair- oh, oh, his well built torso! What I wouldn t pay for that!"- and half would demand he stay whole.

That was exactly why it was kept a secret.

Only a month back had Adrien's mother died. Everyone was aware of this. But nobody knew that Gabriel Agreste had died at the same moment his wife did.

Now, only a walking husk, a memory of who Gabriel used to be, lived in the Agreste Manor. The lively atmosphere of the mansion took a 360 as it turned bleak and dark. And, it seemed every time Gabriel saw his son, Adrien, he got sadder.. angrier.. more frustrated..

What better way to expel of negative emotions than to rid of the source? Right?

Gabriel Agreste had many employees and servants, but his driver- the Gorilla, as Adrien pegged him because of his speechless and stiff nature- and his secretary, Nathalie, were his closest. Although Gabriel had turned cold towards even them when his wife died, Adrien certainly hadn't, and he tried to share his mourning with the two. After all, his mother was the light of so many lives. To take away the light only left one in darkness.

His efforts seemed to have finally taken their toll when a guilty Nathalie warily approached him in his room one night. He only happened to be awake, sitting at his computer desk, since it was yet another restless night since his mother's death. Nathalie hadn't knocked, like she usually did, and her bun was in disarray.

Nathalie, ever the perfectionist, and marking tidiness as one of her top priorities.. that same Nathalie looked so.. sloppy, as she stood there, slightly winded. She kept one hand on the doorknob to Adrien's room as the other rested on her knee. She stared at the boy who stared back.

"Adrien," she quietly greeted. And then she suddenly walked forward with such desperation in her eyes that Adrien stood up from his chair backed up a little, his knees bumping into his white sofa.

Nathalie reached him anyways and placed her hands on his shoulders, looking deeply into his eyes, her own darting back and forth. Finally, she said the seven words that would forever change Adrien"s life.

"Run now, Adrien. You... you re an unwind."

And then she looked over her shoulder, briskly, and hurried out of the room as if nothing happened, leaving behind a gobsmacked Adrien standing in front of his sofa.

It took him a few moments to really register what she'd said. He blinked as the realization dawned upon him.

'You... you re an unwind.'

At one end, he was free. At the other end, the police force would be chasing after him, especially because the bounty would obviously be bigger on his head than any other normal AWOL.

At the moment, the only thing he could do was to numbly follow what Nathalie had said. The least he could do was thank her for her warning; after all, if a traitor was discovered by the government, they'd face the punishment that came second to unwinding. She'd sacrificed a lot to warn him.

He quickly slipped out a backpack from his closet, wrinkling his nose at the fine material and quality of the pack- what a farce- before he briefly stuffed in bags and cans of food from his mini-fridge, a few water bottles, three changes of clothing and a photo of when times were better. His mother and father smile at seven-year-old Adrien tenderly, as the boy himself doesn't realize and grins towards the camera itself.

Adrien sighed. It didn't feel real. Maybe when everything caught up with him, some tears that were hiding would finally come out.

He put the photo in, with much more care than he did the clothing and food, and zipped the pack close. He then dressed himself in ordinary black clothing. A month ago, he'd terminated the special black clothing for flexibility that he used time to time as an anonymous hero. He couldn't let his father know, especially when the man seemed so emotionally fragile. Besides, the mysterious girl in the red and black.. the one that he'd met once or twice, and had marveled at how blue her eyes were- yes, she could handle the other criminals. She was amazing.

Adrien gulped before opening the window to his room, breathing in the crisp air. Nerves raced inside him, making his limbs tingle. It wasn't the high jump that made him apprehensive, since he'd done many higher jumps before. It was the fact that he was starting something completely new, and if he messed up even once.. well, may he rest in pieces.

Adrien shook his head as he stepped onto the ledge. One jump down onto the trimmed lawn and from then on, he'd be on his own.

He took a deep breath and then he jumped, feeling the air rush and whistle before he landed with a crouch on the lawn that muffled his impact. Shakily, the boy stood.

He cast one last glance to the looming place that used to be home behind him

...and then he ran.

~Marinette~

Marinette's motive was simple: to get far, fast. Her early-rising guardian- no, former guardian- would notice her disappearance by the crack of dawn and the Juvey-Cops would be onto her an hour after that. She couldn't run much before the Juvey-Cops would catch up to her in their patrol cars. Physically fit as she was, she wasn't faster than a vehicle. She had to get a ride to the freeway nearby.. yes, if she could just get to the freeway, the rest would be simple.

Marinette had slowed to a jog about three minutes in, covering what she estimated to be about four miles. It had been half an hour; the freeway was still ten miles away, and she wasn't sure she could simply speed up and cover two extra miles in the next thirty minutes. The girl squinted as she jogged her memory along with her body, every 'thump, thump' of the backpack thudding against her back synchronizing with her steps.

From her former guardian's house to the freeway, there were several shops, a supermarket, a town square where flea markets were held every Saturday, and..

..a gas station! There were always people at gas stations at every unsensible hour. If she could somehow convince someone there to give her a ride, or sneak in while they were filling their gas, then she could reach the freeway! And once she reached the freeway, she.. she..

..she could run some more. Maybe she could search for one of those Unwind communities that were rumored to exist. Or just take to hiding in the woods. In any case, she just had to avoid the Juvey-Cops.

The girl had unknowingly slowed her jog down. Shaking her head, she continued on with more vigor. Only about three more miles, and she could reach salvation in the form of a gas station.

Slowly, as the girl jogged along the sidewalk, the sun began to creep up the sky and make the inky blue fade to a lighter shade of blue. As Marinette neared the gas station, the sun was already halfway up the sky. Drats.

Marinette swerved into the station and looked around, desperately hoping for someone to be filling their gas. As she walked around a little, she turned a corner and a small exhale escaped her.

Perfect. Someone was filling gas into a truck and, by the looks of it, they still had ways to go. Marinette creeped around the side of the truck and tried, quietly, to open the back door. Key word being 'tried'.

The door squealed like a pig the second she cracked it, and the trucker- a wiry man in his 30s, she guessed- whipped around, holding the nozzle at the ready. She instantly backed up, but due to her astonishing luck, she tripped over a rock and fell back.

"What do you think you re doing with my truck?" The gruff voice only pumped more fear into Marinette as she backed up a little more, scootching against the ground. This man could figure her out in a heartbeat and report her, and then she'd be off to be cut up while he counted his cash..

"Kid?" His voice snapped her out of her daze as she looked up at him pleadingly, trying to portray as much as she could with her eyes. But not too much.

She gulped. "Please," she said, her voice oddly squeaky like it used to be. "Please, d-don't tell.. I-I can give you my phone.. my money.." Albeit Marinette didn t have any money on her.

The man regarded her for a few more moments before making his decision. "Here, get up. I want to show you something."

Marinette instantly complied before squeezing her eyes shut, not daring to think of what situation she shimmied herself into this time.

Her eyes flew open when a snap sounded. A loud, crisp snap of the fingers that reverberated for a few moments. She looked at the man in question, who simply held an arm out.

Exactly seven seconds later, three pigeons fluttered down onto the man's extended arm in orderly fashion, cocking their heads. Marinette's jaw dropped in astonishment.

"These fingers here knew something, something real well," the man softly said. "They must've trained these three birds. They only recognize the sound, not the person." The man looked at the three pigeons for a moment longer before abruptly raising his arm to the air, allowing the pigeons to flutter away. He stared at the sky after he lowered his arm.

"Makes you wonder what else they did before they were unwound."

Marinette stayed silent.

The man finally looked at Marinette. "I'll give you a ride," he finalized. Marinette gasped. "Just until where I gotta go."

Marinette had to keep her jaw from falling open. "Y-You'll really.."

The man nodded. "It's hard to think what it'd be like.. maybe if there'd been more organ donors, the world would be different. But a perfect world is impossible."

Marinette nodded, still in shock. "Thank you, thank you so much, um.."

The man let the smallest of smiles spread on his face. "Anything you know and say can be used against you. Just call me Mr. Pigeon."

Marinette blinked and then nodded, instantly clambering into his truck when he turned around to finish filling up his truck. She wouldn't ask any more of him; his generosity was more than welcome. It seems she stumbled upon the right man this time

Marinette shifted on the cold floor of the truck and used her backpack as a pillow, trying to get as comfortable as possible. A few moments later, the truck started up and slowly began to back out of the gas station. The gentle rocking motions of the truck lulled Marinette to sleep. For the first time in a long while, Marinette allowed herself the luxury of hope.

~Adrien~

Adrien was lucky this once despite his notorious reputation for being unlucky.

He lived close enough to the freeway. The freeway, he believed, was his salvation. For now, at least. Once he reached the freeway, he could.. he could..

Maybe he could hitchhike. Surely someone would accept a model to ride in their car, right? Or maybe he could search for one of those Unwind communities he'd heard about. In any case, the freeway was the start and luckily for Adrien, it was close and he was a good runner.

The freeway, only three miles away, was a short distance for Adrien, who covered it within twenty two minutes. He stood on the edge, near where the mediocre road from his neighborhood merged into the huge freeway which was bustling with activity seventy-five miles an hour. Suddenly, his eye caught on a small blockup near the side of the road..

A wiry man was being handcuffed by a Juvey-Cop while another one, standing next to a middle-aged woman, reached inside the man's truck to pull out a girl by her forearm. The girl shouted for a second before seeing the woman, and then a look of sheer hatred crossed her face before terror. Any blind person could tell this girl was an AWOL. A caught AWOL.

Adrien was about to turn away remorsefully, but that was when the girl turned her head to face away from the woman.

He got to see her eyes..

They were the brightest, clearest blue and he'd only seen eyes like that in one other person.

And that was when Adrien made one of the most impulsive decisions he'd ever made in his life.

He leaped down and sprinted across traffic, wincing when honks began to blare and cars abruptly swerved to avoid him. The two Juvey-Cops that were handling the girl instantly flung their guns out to shoot tranq bullets at Adrien.

They both had crappy aim and he was too fast.

He took one last leap, rolling over the hood of a Cadillac that screeched to a stop with the scent of burnt rubber arising. Finally he grabbed the wrist of the girl- gently- as he gazed into her eyes, trying to portray that- 'I m not a murderer, and this might seem crazy, but I know your eyes'.

The girl took a sharp intake of breath as she seemed to recognize him- or was it his eyes?- and she turned her head to look at the chaos building behind them. A bus had crashed into an oak tree and there was a buildup of cars with broken windows and smashed bits.

She looked back at him and nodded once.

And with that, they ran.

OHOHOHO. I think this is long enough.

So, anyways. I can do another part to this! But not straight after, first I need to do suggestions! Speaking of. Leave them in the comments and I promise I will get to them I swear.. ._. Despite how untrustworthy I seem right now. *cries*

See you later!


	19. Chocolate Milk- Terror Series

**I LITERALLY SAW THIS HAPPEN AND ALMOST FLIPPED OUT.**

 **Think of this as a sequel to that cereal chapter…**

 **I'm getting onto those requests, oldest first. I swear, I've already started the first one! :D (by the way, I got Microsoft Word! Woo!)**

 **~In this snippet, another compelling problem makes itself known, giving Marinette and Adrien yet another thing to fear.~**

It had taken Marinette and Adrien a while, three weeks to be exact, to get used to the idea of cereal again. Hawkmoth's little parade had shaken them to the bone, more than they'd like to admit, and one time Chat had instantly rushed to Ladybug's side when she had suddenly stopped between buildings mid-jump and barely stumbled onto a roof, staring at something wide eyed.

Chat would tell you he didn't scream. Chat rarely, and shamelessly, lies.

There on the roof was that same damned bowl of cereal, except this time the flakes were visibly soggy- they were a different color- and the milk had curdled and taken on a strange green hue. The spilled milk around the bowl had left stains on the roof of the building, and the proportions of the bowl of cereal.. so disgustingly OFF…

In those three weeks, Marinette and Adrien had flinched at any mention of cereal, "politely" shied away from any offerings, and gagged when they saw milk being poured. Marinette's mother was very confused as to why Marinette wasn't scarfing down her favorite chocolate puffs, while Adrien..

The next simple breakfast he took pleasure from was an omelette. Tikki and Plagg had laughed their heads off (mostly Plagg, Tikki took Marinette's fear into consideration and giggled behind her hands).

Needless to say, cereal had become a touchy subject until the two had finally warmed up to it. Alya and Nino were as clueless as ever, but when things finally, finally went back to one-hundred percent normal, they were relieved.

They really shouldn't have been.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng together owned a bakery that was, arguably, the best in Paris. While they were known for their bread, and their crepes, and their cakes and cookies and pies, along with various other treats, they were also known for something that was actually quite simple..

..Chocolate milk.

One would think that it was ridiculous- seriously; it's just chocolate syrup and milk, what's so special? But the thing was, the Dupain-Chengs didn't only use chocolate syrup and milk. They used another secret ingredient in their milk that gave the beverage a richer and smoother taste. In other words, you couldn't diss it 'till you tried it.

Tom and Sabine didn't sell cups already filled with the drink- they believed that it was a "hindrance to the creativity of the taste buds". So instead, they sold special cups in which people could add the desired amount of milk and syrup. _In that order…._

Marinette enjoyed the chocolate milk as much as anyone else. It was a regular drink for her. One fateful day, while Marinette was doing many ordinary things- running around her room as she tugged on pants, shouting to her kwami partner as the little red being put things in her backpack, and managing to ogle photos of Adrien in the process- a customer entered the store bright and early. They weren't too old or young; they looked to be maybe two years younger than Marinette.

Sabine Cheng, who was working at the register at that time, offered a warm smile to the young boy. "Hello, dear. Is there anything you'd like?"

The boy opened his mouth to reply, but that was when Marinette tripped down the stairs with a loud "ACK!". She finally stopped rolling when she thudded on the bakery floor.

The customer stared while Sabine shook her head with a sigh. "Don't mind her. What were you about to say?"

The customer blinked and moved his glance from the groaning heap on the floor to the Chinese woman at the counter. "Well, I heard you have great chocolate milk here. I came to give it a shot.."

Sabine clapped her hands together. "Splendid! I'll get you the things right now."

"What?"

Sabine bustled away, leaving a confused customer. However, Marinette finally picked herself up off the floor and rubbed her arm while explaining to the boy. "See, you don't get a cup filled with the drink. She'll give you the cup, milk, and syrup, and you put in however much you want."

The boy grinned. "Oh, that's cool!"

Marinette smiled as well. "Right?"

Sabine finally returned with a jug of milk, a bottle of syrup, and a cup. "Enjoy, dear." She moved back to the register as another customer entered the store.

Marinette turned around to grab a croissant. "At least I can walk to school today.. well, fast-walk. I don't need to run!" She grinned while Sabine rolled her eyes.

Marinette turned around to head out the door… and then she froze.

The boy was squeezing syrup into the cup. But the main problem was...

...there was no milk in the cup yet.

Marinette stared, horrified, with her mouth hanging open, as the boy continued to squeeze syrup into the cup. He checked the cup, satisfied, and _then_ poured milk in.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

That day, Marinette was late to school. However, she surprised everyone when she walked in with her head low, rather than the usual flustered apologies. When she slid into her seat, Alya nudged her. She noticed that in Marinette's numb hand there was an uneaten croissant- not even a bite had been taken.

"What's wrong?" Alya whispered. It must have been serious, if Marinette wasn't squealing over Adrien yet..

Marinette slowly, slowly raised her head. Alya bit the insides of her cheek so she wouldn't scream; Marinette's eyes had a defeated look and her cheeks were sunken.

"Girl!" Alya whisper-shouted. "What happened to you?!"

Marinette swallowed and blinked her vacant eyes. Then she finally opened her unusually dry lips to say..

"He put chocolate syrup.. and then milk."

Everyone in the room collectively gasped, including Chloe; Marinette had not whispered. Miss. Bustier dropped her pen and Adrien turned around in his seat to stare at Marinette with his mouth open.

" _WHAT?!"_

… **.I'm thinking I should make it a series or something where Marinette and Adrien (occasionally everyone else) see something horrifying which goes against the laws of nature and then get distressed. LOL.**

 **No but really.. I saw this. Send me your help.**


	20. String Cheese- Terror Series

**Hello again! The requests will take longer than usual, not only because I have schoolwork, but because they matter more to me than my own prompts. ;) Thanks to guests Loplover and Norman for sending in suggestions; I will get those done in the near future!**

 **Anyways… nature keeps sending abominations towards me… Brace yourself for the inspired part 3 of the Terror series (that's what I've decided to call the series with the cereal and the chocolate milk… and now this too)**

 **This snippet will be told as if a narrator was speaking, more than complete 3** **rd** **person.. soo.. yeah .**

 **BY THE WAY MY BIRTHDAY IS ON THURSDAY! I'LL WRITE A SNIPPET THENN! WHOOOOO**

 **~In this snippet, Marinette and Adrien almost cry.~**

Marinette was known for many things, most of them positive. She was quite popular, the amazing designer, that "one girl who worked with Jagged", the daughter of the best bakers, the one who stood up to the Blonde Beast Chloe, and the one who was actually really pretty. Yes, Marinette was known for a lot of things. Adrien was extremely popular. He was the smart, gentle, handsome, rich son of a model. He was perfect in every aspect! Everyone in Paris knew who Adrien Agreste was.

Ladybug was known for being simply amazing, with her strength, speed, and brains. She was known for her beauty, a red-and-black blur in the streets with flashy blue eyes. She was known for her loyalty to Paris and her ceaseless protection with her powerful partner, Chat Noir. Yes, Ladybug was more than famous. Chat Noir was the part of the Paris duo with strength on his side; with his power there was much to fear, but his heart let the people of Paris rest at ease. Chat Noir was a name everyone knew.

But what nobody knew was that these people had common fears; and a new one was in the making.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLMLB

Oh, another thing Marinette was known for? Being _really_ clumsy. That was one of the things that made people totally unsuspecting of Marinette's secret, graceful identity. Maybe she was clumsy on purpose for that very reason! Man, what a genius.

Anyways, Marinette was really clumsy. Whether on purpose or not, she just _was,_ and her clumsiness was taking action one fateful day…

"And so, as you can see here, these Latin roots are used in many different words. _Tor_ , meaning to turn, is used in words like _torso._ And that makes sense because you can turn your torso around like so!" Mme. Bustier demonstrated by twisting around. "Remember, you have a quiz on this Friday. _Latum, tor, vers,_ and _sub!_ Memorize the root and the vocabulary words!"

That was the bell's cue; it blared throughout the speakers in the school and everyone got up, shuffling their papers and packing up. Marinette finished scribbling down the rest of her notes and also capped her pen, standing up to put her things away.

"Hey, Marinette!"

Marinette instantly froze and whirled around to see Adrien waving at her. Marinette grinned and waved back- somehow, that resulted in all of her things _almost_ falling off of her desk, but she made a great save by twisting around and propping the things back with her leg… and doing lots of flexible stuff that only Marinette could do.

"Adrien, hi! Hello, hey! What- what's going up? Going on? What's up?" Marinette rushed out. She internally face palmed- well, she thought she did, she actually smacked herself rather hard on the forehead.

Adrien chuckled a little, amused at Marinette's antics. "Well, I was thinking maybe you'd want to hang out with Nino and I today, since Alya is also coming."

"Eh- she is?" Marinette looked over at Alya, who winked. Marinette grinned in appreciation.

"We'll meet you at the main door after school," Alya said smoothly. "How's the park sound?"

Nino, who was taking a while putting his things away, finally spoke up. "That sounds awesome, dude! I heard the park is the _inspirational place_." He waved his fingers in the air for effect. "I could get some ideas for music composition."

"Park it is, then," Marinette chirped. She had something to look forward to at the end of the day, and the thought of going to the park with Adrien- _Adrien!_ \- made her giddy inside.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

The day couldn't have gone by slower.

Marinette was usually attentive in science class; not only did she find it interesting, but sometimes it was helpful- such as the whole Princess Fragrance fiasco. But today, Marinette couldn't have cared less that the sun was made of _excited protons._ Today she just wanted to get out of school and go to the park… with Adrien…

Marinette dreamily sighed. She had sat through six whole hours of education; finally, _finally,_ the day was about to end! She would be free, then she'd go to the park with _Adrien_ and-

"Marinette, could you stay after class? I need to give you some things."

Mme. Mendeliev's voice cut through Marinette's day dreams. Marinette's eyes widened before she groaned and slumped on the desk, right as the bell rang and everyone ran outside towards their _freedom…_

After an extensive talk about Marinette's assignments that she never turned in and were to be completed by next week (was it _her_ fault that she always had to save Paris?!), Marinette was finally free. Unfortunately, by then, most of the people were gone… only a few people were left milling around. Marinette sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Alya had texted her.

' _okay so. I tried holding them off? But we're at the park anyways. we're waiting for you mariiii'_

"Go quick!" Tikki's voice startled Marinette and she almost dropped her phone. "They're waiting for you!"

"Thanks, Miss Obvious," Marinette giggled as she bopped Tikki's head. "And you almost made me drop my phone!" Tikki laughed. "You probably would've dropped it anyways."

Marinette pouted. "I'd like to say that's false, but it kind of isn't… well, I gotta run!"

Tikki ducked back inside Marinette's purse as Marinette sprinted down the steps to the school.

Another thing Marinette was known for was being _really_ unlucky. Unlucky to an unrealistic extent. Unlucky, as if she were in some kind of cartoon where things always went wrong for her, but she managed to pull through in the end anyways… totally ridiculous, right!

Despite the fact that only a few people were milling around, Marinette just _had_ to run into one of them. Run into, more like ram. Marinette collided into a poor, unsuspecting boy who was at the foot of the stairs, about to peel open the package of a string cheese for an afternoon snack.

"OhmygoshareyouokayI'msososorry-" Marinette rushed out. Luckily the boy hadn't broken any bones, and his backpack had taken the brunt of the fall, but _still!_ Marinette could only face palm so much before she lost all of her brain cells for good.

The boy groaned and warily sat up, rubbing his head. Marinette watched with horror. _What if he got amnesia and he suddenly starts speaking Swedish, or something?! How will I help him?! Or something in his backpack broke?! Oh my gosh! I can't pay that off! I mean, his backpack looks like it's got expensive stuff in it, if not then at least a phone, oh my God I am SO SCREWED-_

"Uh…" All of a sudden there was a hand waving in front of her face. Marinette blinked and saw the boy looking at her. "Are you okay? You kinda zoned out there."

Marinette blinked again before she recomposed herself and shot up. "Oh my gosh! I should be asking you- are you okay?! It sounds like you're still speaking French! WAIT! Is your phone broken?!"

The boy looked really confused by now and Tikki, nestled inside Marinette's purse, sighed as she felt a little sorry for him.

"Er… I'm okay… and it's fine, you just bumped into me." Understatement of the century, but Marinette wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Oh, okay, good," Marinette exhaled in relief and then she noticed his snack on the ground. "Here," she said, picking it up and handing it back to him. "Still inside the wrapper, so it's clean. Sorry again!"

The boy accepted the cheese and picked himself up, brushing dust off of his clothing. "Nah, it's okay." Marinette smiled before she walked off towards the crosswalk so she could get to the park the street across. Marinette safely crossed, but as her feet touched the pavement, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye…

It was the boy. He was walking somewhere, where Marinette didn't _know,_ but that didn't matter.

The boy… was biting into his string cheese. No, not peeling off thin, delightful pieces that'd taste like a hint of mozzarella and a hint of something totally magical. Just... bite. _Chomp._ An explosion of disgusting curdled milk in your mouth.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Marinette eventually made it to the park, where her three friends rushed up to her, worried. They had reason to be- she was slouching, dragging her feet, and her head was hung low. It took a good seven minutes of prying and prodding, but finally, Marinette began to explain her story. There was no problem, and they couldn't fathom why she was so depressed, until…

"And then I saw him… bite…" Marinette numbly mimicked the boy biting into his string cheese, except she acted a lot more savage. Alya and Nino had no reaction, but Adrien…

Adrien fell to the floor. And let's not say what happened to Plagg.

 **Two of my friends bite it. I… I can't…**

 **WHO ELSE HAS A BIRTHDAY ON THE 22** **nd** **? RAISE YOUR HANDS!**


	21. Thunder Clap

**Okay. I must seem like a little brat since I never mentioned this before but OHMYGOSHAREYOUGUYSFORREAL?! I GOT 174 REVIEWS, 136 FOLLOWS, AND COMING! OH MY GOSHHHHHH!**

 **It seems like yesterday I was freaking out over 30 reviews! But we're nearing TWO HUNDRED, like, UNBELIEVABLE. You people are too good to me …**

 **THIS IS A MILESTONE IN MY WRITING CAREER (haha my writing what)! AND, now I'm not a child anymore. I'm officially a teenager! Dunno whether to be happy about that or what, but…**

 **..Anyways, I believe this is quite overdue! I hope** _ **nightfury153**_ **is still reading, because here I'm using their idea: "Marinette is afraid of thunderstorms!" Time for some MariChat fluff everyone, BUCKLE UP!**

 **~In this snippet, Marinette cowers in fear from the thunder, but she should know that her knight in shining leather will always be there!~**

Marinette had never really had any sort of opinion regarding rain until she met Adrien. Rain was where floating water in the sky pretty much relieved itself. What else? _Oh, maybe meeting the total love of her life under the rain never happened._ Oh. Right… regardless of that little fact!

But thunder? _Thunder?_ That was a totally different story. Marinette loathed thunder; it was loud, scary, flashy with the lightning, and made her insides jump up. It was fine when she was fighting an akuma who could control thunder, namely Climatika, because she knew that it wasn't natural. Anything that was evil and unnatural, Marinette could fix with her Lucky Charm. But when there was a natural thunderstorm, Marinette would always hole up in her room with some headphones on maximum volume and anything that would make her comfortable, because she knew that nature was out of Ladybug's control and that the scary thunder and lightning outside was _real._ And, as one of the superheroes who protected Paris, Marinette also knew that everything could be gone in an instant- just like how the thunder struck. _Boom!_ Besides, Marinette was jumpy and not fond of sudden noises.

The bad news was that there was a thunderstorm going on in Paris. The good news was that it was a Saturday. There was only so much someone's good luck could stretch; Saturday was the best Marinette would be getting. At least she wouldn't look like a coward in school as she would most likely hide under the desk while thunder boomed outside and Chloe laughed her snarky little laugh. She could hide in her comfortable bed, under the covers, with some music sounding from her headphones and a cup of hot chocolate as Tikki ate cookies by her side and she read a book or sketched a little…

Man, did that sound nice.

No, _paradise_ was the right word as Marinette flinched again under the pelting rain. She held her jacket above her head for whatever meager cover she could get from the rain, and she was sprinting through the streets. _Jeez, I shouldn't have gone to the fabrics store at all! Why is Paris weather so weird?! AND WHY DIDN'T THEY HAVE CARDAMOM GREEN FABRIC TODAY?!_

Marinette was super pissed, but the thunder wasn't waiting for pissed people. As it rumbled, Marinette stopped with a jolt. "Marinette!" Tikki shouted from inside her coin purse. "The more you stop, the longer you stay away from your room! Just keep running!" Marinette determinedly nodded and ran faster, her feet splashing in the puddles that had already formed in the street. Despite the annoying ache in her arms from holding her jacket up, and her muddied capris, the thought of home drove her forward. Unbeknownst to her, a certain cat watched her as she ran back home.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB 

"Thunder and lightning!" Adrien exclaimed as he pressed his nose to the huge glass windows of his room. "I love thunder!"

Plagg threw a piece of Camembert in the air to catch it in his mouth. "Really, why so?" Plagg gulped his cheese down. "Don't most normal humans, I don't know, have _no opinion?_ Or dislike thunder?" The strong _pitter, patter_ of the rain on Adrien's large rooftop was comforting and watching drops roll down the window was intriguing.

Adrien shrugged. "I guess it varies. But don't you love how powerful it sounds?" Adrien grinned as he looked back out at the dark gray sky. "And it happens with a quick _boom!_ From being Chat Noir, I know that everything could get better in an instant, just like the thunder happens. Fast and sudden."

Plagg frowned and his eyes widened in impress. "Wasn't expecting something kinda deep like that from you, kid. Mostly lovey-dovey mush." Plagg grimaced and stuck his tongue out. "Gross!" He swallowed another huge piece of Camembert which disappeared into his larger-than-life belly.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "I was expecting that from you. Anyways, want to head out?"

Plagg shot up. "What?! Are you _crazy?_ It's a rainy day outside and it's nice and toasty in here, you've got all forms of recreation and I have my cheese! This is perfect!"

Adrien grinned. "Well, I want to head out. And it's way better out there anyways! We can relax some more once we come back from a quick run."

"What do you- you're crazy-" Plagg spluttered, but he was cut off as Adrien punched his right hand into the air. " _Plagg, claws out!"_ The kwami's groans receded as he was sucked into the ring and magic transformed Adrien into Chat Noir.

Chat Noir grinned and flexed his claws a little before he opened one of the large windows and jumped from up high, enjoying the feeling of freedom and the wind tousling his hair before cleanly landing on a rooftop with no help from his baton. He ran freely, enjoying the feel of the rain on his hair and the pelting droplets on his suit.

He went on like this for a while, occasionally admiring the way the gray clouds rolled and rumbled, until he heard something peculiar below.

 _Splash. Skitter. Splash._

It sounded like someone was running- which was ridiculous, because barely anyone would be out in this weather (Chat didn't count himself into the group known as "just anyone"), and if they were, they'd have an umbrella. And most people knew that running in the rain made you wetter!

Despite all these facts, the mystery person kept running, and Chat let his curiosity get the best of him as he peeked over the edge of a rooftop. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw who it was.

 _Why is Marinette running through Paris on a really rainy day with her jacket above her head?_ Chat also noticed how she stopped and bent over a little every time the thunder struck. _Strange…_

Marinette seemed to run really quickly, and whenever she stopped, something had her nodding and running faster than before. Chat thought he saw a little red flash, but before he could delve deeper, Marinette abruptly turned a corner.

The rain made the rooftops slick, but Chat Noir kept his balance as he ran across the edges to keep up with Marinette. He was surprised at how good of a runner she was; she wasn't on the cross country team, but it sure did seem like she ran on a regular basis for some reason.

After some more running and watching, Chat came to a conclusion: Marinette was afraid of thunder.

Which, at first, he deemed totally _ridiculous._ Because you either loved thunder or you didn't know what it was! Or maybe a rare minority just didn't care. But dislike? Fear? He must have misjudged something, there was no way Marinette would be afraid of thunder.

Except every time that the thunder struck, Marinette would stop. As the time went on, the stops became shorter and shorter until they were just small jolts, but they were still there and it was no coincidence. Chat Noir blinked his large green eyes as he watched Marinette enter her bakery, soaked to the bone.

Maybe he'd pay her a visit.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Marinette stopped for shorter and shorter amounts of time when the thunder struck, so she reached the bakery at a reasonable time. She _had_ informed her parents about visiting the fabrics store, but she hadn't exactly checked up on the weather forecast…

Once or twice, she thought she heard something skid on the roofs above, but didn't think much of it. It was raining hard, maybe some gravel came loose or something.

Marinette finally opened the tinkling door to her parents' bakery. It was a cold day, and there was nothing better than a warm treat on a hot day. The warm bakery was warmly lit up with yellow lights and the fresh scent of bread was in the warm air. Many people were inside the small bakery, and most of them looked over at the dripping wet Marinette.

Marinette paid them no mind and instead walked up, kissing her mother's cheek. Sabine was stationed at the cashier and sighed as she looked Marinette up and down. "You couldn't have bothered to take an umbrella?"  
Marinette waved her hand in the air. "Don't act like you always read the forecast, Maman! And guess what? They didn't have cardamom green…"

Sabine laughed. "Aw, maybe next time. For now, change up before you get a cold."

Marinette nodded and headed upstairs, gathering a towel and the most comfortable pair of fluffy pajamas she owned from her room before going to the bathroom to change. Tikki zipped back inside her room to eat up on a stash of cookies Marinette kept in her computer drawer. Once she had dried up, and was dressed in impossibly soft pink fleece bottoms and a long-sleeved white shirt, she entered her room. She instantly dropped her jaw and wet clothing in unison.

There was someone on her bed, obviously having entered through her trap door. It didn't matter who, they were an intruder, and Marinette didn't bother to try to make out their face. Instead, she did something anyone would do in a situation as such.

She quickly darted over to her table in one stride, picked up a random pen, and- with deadly Ladybug accuracy- fired it at the intruder.

A sudden pained yowl had Marinette thinking, _hey, don't I know this voice? It sounds kinda like… Oh, crap-_

" _OW!_ Marinette, what was that for?" Chat Noir whined as he rubbed his sore forehead. He didn't think that a pen, a capped one at that, could be so deadly. Wait, why was she able to throw like that in the first place?

Marinette stood speechless for a few more seconds before her brain started functioning again. "Hey!" She irritably said as if realizing for the first time that Chat Noir was in her room. "I have every right to throw anything at an intruder! _Wait, why are you even here?!" Crap, did he see Tikki?!_

Chat Noir instantly held up his hands in surrender. "Don't throw anything!" He quickly rushed out. Marinette rolled her eyes. "I saw you running through the rain and thought it was weird. Why were you outside anyways?"

Marinette almost didn't want to answer him because of her stupid reason, but then she realized something. "Wait, if you saw me, that means you were outside! Can I ask you that question?" _Okay, seems like he didn't see anything… she must be inside eating then._

Chat Noir looked surprised as Marinette sent him a smug smile. Then, to her surprise, he grinned and shrugged. "Well, I couldn't resist a run. Besides, there was thunder!" At that, Marinette involuntarily flinched against her will. Chat Noir frowned, his suspicions more than confirmed, but he asked anyways. "Princess… are you afraid of thunder?"

Marinette rubbed the back of her neck. She considered lying, but that would just be blatant and plain funny after she'd reacted to the _word_ like that. She sighed in defeat and dropped her hand. "Yeah, go ahead. You can laugh now."

Chat Noir furrowed his eyebrows under his mask and hopped down from Marinette's loft bed. "What makes you think I'd laugh? We're all afraid of something." He walked forward and placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "Even _moi,_ the great Chat Noir!" He joked. "Can you believe it?"

Marinette gasped in fake shock. "What, I never would have guessed! Chat Noir, _afraid?_ That is simply _cat_ astrophic."

Chat Noir gaped at Marinette. "That was so… unoriginal."

Marinette smacked Chat's forearm. "At least thank me for even saying that. It hurt my soul." Chat Noir smiled broadly. "It's great to know that a pun for me is priority over a Princess' soul."

Marinette smacked Chat again. "Oh, get over yourself."

Lately Marinette had been warming up to him as Adrien more, but she was never like this- carefree, talking as if it were breathing, making (bad) jokes, and acting like- well, _really good friends._ This was a side of Marinette that he felt Adrien never got to see, and he wanted to find out why. Especially since he liked this side, a lot. It reminded him of Ladybug.

"So, Princess, mind the change in topic... do you know this guy named Adrien?"

Instantly Marinette started sputtering and choking and her face became a little red. She coughed and beat a fist on her chest. "Uhh… which- which Adrien? There's more than one in Paris… I think…"

"How many do you know?" Chat asked with amusement. Marinette averted her eyes and her red cheeks intensified. "Okay," she muttered. "I-He's a really… really nice guy." Chat felt joy grow in his heart at that. And that was when he decided to look around Marinette's room.

The last time he came here, the walls were bare, but this time there were pictures. Of Marinette's family and many silly pictures with her friends, yes, but…

…there were also at least four pictures of him as Adrien. It seemed Marinette had just started putting some pictures up on her wal

"So… what's this?" He asked, gesturing to the wall as he walked forward. Marinette made a weird noise in the back of her throat and threw herself in front of the wall before Chat could get there. For some strange reason, she stood protectively in front of one particular drawer and pushed it to make sure it was completely closed. He had to ask her how she was so fast. "Uhh-" Marinette laughed loudly. "This-This is just my gallery of stuff!" Her eyes narrowed. "Hey, why are you snooping around? Wait! You didn't even answer my question, why are you here?!"

Chat Noir sighed. "I guess the cat is out of the bag." Marinette snorted. "I thought you'd be afraid of thunder, so I decided to come here to help you cheer up and such. Since, you know, the great Chat Noir can help anyone and anything."

"If only he could help himself."

"Rude!"

And although Marinette was acting a bit peeved on the outside, her heart was actually quite warm with Chat's thoughtful actions. She smiled genuinely at him… and that smile turned into another flinch as thunder struck again. It seems Chat had left the trapdoor open from when he'd entered her room.

"Um…" Marinette swallowed. "I'll close that so I won't be jumping every other second." She meant it as a joke, but it came out more serious than she'd have liked.

"Hey, Princess…" Chat's soft voice had Marinette shiver a little as she pulled the trapdoor closed and turned back around to face him from her position up on her bed. "How about a movie?" Chat's sudden suggestion surprised Marinette, who stared at him.

"W-What?"

"To take your mind off of the thunder! In a _mewment_ like this, a _mewvie_ would be a _mice_ distraction from the thunder on a nice _Caturday_ like this!"

Marinette's jaw dropped open; she was thunderstruck. "Did you seriously rat out four puns in one go?"

"I think I heard one in there."

'Whe- oh… my God." Marinette clutched her hair and her eyebrows furrowed when she recalled the word _rat_. "You're infecting me, stop!"

Chat laughed merrily. "Unless you want me to keep throwing puns out, you can watch a movie with _mew_ instead of jumping at the thunder."

Marinette blinked before she relaxed and smiled. She picked up all the blankets off of her bed and threw them overboard, catching Chat by surprise as they fluttered right onto him. She climbed down her loft bed, laughing, as she watched Chat thrash around in the blankets. "What was that for-!"

Marinette grinned and pulled the mass of blankets off of his head, laughing at his mussed up hair which was now falling even lower onto his left eye. "Blankets and movie! Perfect combination, right?"

Chat blinked and Marinette slowly lowered the blankets. "Right? Hey, have you ever had movie nights before?"

Chat sheepishly laughed and plopped down. "First time for everything!" Before Marinette could ask anymore questions about what _that_ meant, Chat pulled down Marinette's laptop and flipped it open. Marinette thanked the heavens that only her desktop computer had the completely embarrassing wallpaper of Adrien, and not her laptop. Instead, her laptop's wallpaper was a picture of Marinette with all of her classmates (save for Chloe and Sabrina) pulling ridiculous faces. Chat chuckled.

"Okay, _Purrincess!_ Your pick, lets get this started!"

Marinette rolled her eyes at Chat's childishness and plopped down on the ground next to him, pulling some blankets over her shoulders as she scrolled through her downloaded movies and finally decided on _Home Alone._ As the movie began to play, Marinette subconsciously leaned into Chat and let out a yawn.

Tikki, watching from an open crack in the drawer, smiled. "Plagg, they never get old, do they?"

 **Okay, I hope you guys liked this. Sorry for the lateness ;-; I kind of went in circles with this and needed a rest. Read and review, send in ideas, don't be shy! I'm open ears to all (but keep in mind I don't write *cough* dirty stuff. I JUST TURNED 13 OKAY?)**


	22. Not-So-Convenient Convenience Store

**Hello after such a long time! So, so sorry for the horrendous gap. School happened and there's also this state-wide art competition I wanna enter, and I want to make my entry awesome even though there are people five years older than me competing. LOL.**

 **And also the whole clown craze. I'm not normally afraid of clowns, but holy cRAP THIS IS SCARY. THEY CAME TO MY BORDERING CITY! IT'S GONNA BE LIKE THE PURGE ON HALLOWEEN. Eeek… well I never went trick-or-treating anyways, no need to go this year, haha.**

 **Anyways, I had this funny AU idea in my head (its probably not even funny but whatever). Enjoy!**

 **~In this snippet, Marinette learns that chips are actually good for** _ **one**_ **thing.~**

All Marinette had wanted was a bag of chips.

Andyes _,_ she knew that the crisps were probably disgusting in comparison to her parents' baked goods, and _yes,_ she knew they had all the sugars and fats and things that one would probably _not want to consume,_ all in one. But the truth was… Marinette hadn't had a single chip in her life. Ever.

It was true! In all her 16 years of life, Marinette hadn't even tasted one of the most common worldwide foods. She was a girl raised around the best sweets, and to be honest, the only reason she went out to buy a bag was just to try them and see why people ate them every day. She'd eat them secretly in her room, with the doors locked and under her blanket. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently, _yes,_ destiny did not allow her to buy a bag of chips, because a thief just _had_ to walk into the store _she_ was at instead of the many others. He just _had_ to enter before Marinette could leave. He just _had_ to have a gun…

Marinette was, admittedly, scared. She was a human, after all! Not some crazy super hero. And when someone out of their mind whipped out a weapon, and forced the whole convenience store to go on lockdown, it was frightening.

Currently, Marinette was crouched down in front of the chips and snacks isle (the damned snack that got her into this mess!) with another man and an old lady in the same isle. Marinette had to help the old lady get to the floor when the thief's threat had rang out: "Everyone get down and give me your money, or I let out three shots!"

Right now the thief was trying to get money from the cashier, but it was inevitable that he'd go for the customers next. Even though he was shoving the gun in the cashier's face, he hadn't shot yet despite the fact that the cashier was being stubborn, which Marinette found odd. Did he have something against taking lives? _No, because then he wouldn't have a gun._ _Then what…?_ Something about the whole situation felt off. The way that the thief was acting…

"Just hurry up!" The thief snarled at the cashier through his black mask. "Before you get a bullet through your head!"

The cashier glared and scowled. It seemed that he wanted to oppose, but he had no idea of knowing whether the man would finally shoot or not. So, he begrudgingly opened up the register and scooped out all the money, which the thief instantly snatched away.

"You're lucky I'm kind enough to leave you in one piece," he sneered before turning. "Now everyone in this store is gonna pay up, you hear?!"

Besides Marinette, the old lady whimpered a little as her old bones creaked in protest of her position. The man took a sharp intake of breath as they saw the thief's boots moving closer and then he was standing in front of them, his glinting eyes the only visible feature on his face besides the mask. Marinette's eyes widened and her heart leapt in fear.

"You people first." The thief took one menacing step forwards. "Wallets out, now!"

The man and the old lady scrambled for their wallets, and as Marinette was in the process of unclipping her purse, she noticed something odd out of the corner of her eyes…

There was paint peeling off of the gun? And it just so happened that it was peeling right off of a Hello Kitty face. Instantly, rage boiled in the pit of Marinette's stomach and she rolled up the sleeves of her red-and-black spotted hoodie.

Marinette narrowed her eyes as the old lady extended a trembling hand with her money in it. The thief made to grab it, but suddenly-

A foot struck out and the gun flew from his hands, hitting the roof of the small store before landing on the ground with a crack and skidding across the floor. In the process, more paint peeled off and when the gun finally rested to a stop a good seven yards away, the full Hello Kitty symbol was clearly visible.

The thief was too flabbergasted to notice a fuming girl get up and he was shocked when a hand suddenly grabbed his collar and hauled him against the wall with ease, his back thumping painfully. He peered down and his mind went numb in fear when he saw two icy blue eyes boring into his.

"Try that again and things will get messy. Got it?"

The thief gulped and nodded a little, dropping all the money bunched in his pockets. Police sirens were already hearing outside; it seemed as if someone had called 911.

Marinette released his collar and sighed, slumping as the adrenaline rushed out just as fast as it'd rushed in. What she wasn't aware of, though, was that the man in her isle had video-taped the whole thing.

The police rushed in and they handcuffed the thief's hands behind his back, escorting him out of the store and into a waiting car. Two officers stayed behind to ask questions and make sure everyone was alright.

"Is anyone hurt? Did he steal any personal belongings?"

Marinette was about to stealthily slink away- well, considering she'd probably trip over the gun, not very stealthily at all- but the man's voice froze her in her tracks. "That girl, she saved us all!"

Marinette awkwardly laughed and turned around slowly to see the police officers gaping at the man's phone screen as they watched a video. She could faintly hear her threat- " _Try that again and things will get messy. Got it?"_

She'd been recorded?

Now that she heard herself, she was surprised at how scary the threat sounded- like it actually wasn't a bluff! What if she could use this voice against Chloe-!

"Hello?" A hand was waving in front of her face and Marinette was snapped out of her reverie. She looked up, and saw…

..the greenest, brightest, most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. Marinette sucked in a breath as she noticed, for the first time, the officer who now probably thought that she was crazy. She _definitely_ didn't see him before, just his partner with the headphones around his neck. And now she probably made him think that she was a crazy, violent girl who made high-kicking guns a normal thing, and that she usually did scary threats like that, and-

"What you did back there was really brave."

Marinette blinked twice and slowly looked behind her to see if he was talking to somebody else. There was nobody behind her. Then she turned back to him and pointed to her face. "Me?" She asked dumbly. In her mind she wanted to slap herself with a fish. Tuna, since those were huge and heavy-

"Yeah," the officer interrupted Marinette's tuna-filled thoughts with his amused voice. "You _are_ the only one who ran up and kicked a gun out of a thief's hands. Or do you have an accomplice?"

Marinette shortly laughed. "I'm not part of some kind of… crime-fighting organization. I just have a lot of adrenaline and caffeine."

The officer grinned. "Can't have one without the other. My name's Adrien- yours?"

Usually Marinette didn't give out her name to strangers. And sure, maybe, if a police officer or someone of authority asked her for her name, she'd give it. But this time, it didn't feel like she wanted to give Adrien her name because of his position. It was because… she just trusted him. And maybe, just maybe, trusting an officer after kicking going crazy on a Hello-Kitty thief because they connected with you through jokes was a weird thing. But that didn't really matter, because Adrien was different.

"Marinette." A smile blossomed on her face, and she thought that chips were good for more than just eating them. Ease spread throughout her chest and she felt lighter than ever before.

But when the video of Marinette leaked out the next day and went viral, the hundreds of dinging notifications on her phone were more than enough motivation to burrow under her covers and groan. So much for ease.

 **Lol wut**

 **Haha, I might continue this… along with that Unwind AU… and that other weird story which I already put up 5 chapters of that nobody likes anyways. Should I even continue that?**

 **But anyways, yeah. Since I LOVE piling more work on my plate, I'll see if people like this and want a continuation! Sorry again for the delay, I'll try for more regular updates. Oh, and since it's on my mind! FUN FACT: The Star Spangled Banner's tune was originally a tune… for a drinking song. WOO**


	23. Author's Note

Hey! Sorry to any of you guys out there who thought that this was a new chapter, lol. I just wanted to address an issue that I knew would come up sooner or later. I (very) recently deleted a couple of comments that were really negative. AKA hate comments. If you don't want to keep reading, then close this tab because I am going to get _salty_ (and OOC lol). But I DO want the person whose comments I deleted to read this.

I knew that some person out there was going to hate, and I pretty much braced myself. I want to get this out there, **I read my comments and if they're not acceptable by my standards, then kiss them goodbye.** What are my standards? Well, that's pretty easy! If you want to give me criticism, then _go for it._ I would especially appreciate it if you back it up, and throw in a suggestion! But what isn't acceptable is senseless cussing and, pretty much, what the anonymous guest did. I _love_ criticism as much as I love my positive comments, getting help is awesome especially since I'm still really new to this! But hate is just filthy, and unneeded for anyone.

Actually, I was kind of amused by the hate comments that guest left behind. I was in art class and checked my phone, and I started laughing while trying to make a pumpkin out of clay. My friends got suspicious. I was amused by the fact that some low-life _coward_ actually had the audacity to try and leave behind hate comments like that, _anonymous._ If you want to do something like that, **PM me so I can deal with you there, because I don't want those types of comments in my main review section.** Thank you, anonymous guest, for getting a laugh out me! I was having a crappy day, given my sketchbook got wet and the weather was cold and all we did in ALL of my classes were boring notes (there are those days!).

If any of you guys out there are receiving hate, feel free to PM me because _I want to help you._ We all have our own ways of dealing with it, and if talking is the way, then feel free to contact me because **nobody should have to go through that.**

If you think my chapters are boring, that's GREAT! Let me know why! Tell me what could make it better! But do _**not**_ try and sprinkle hate in there, because I will **delete that comment and I will delete it fast.** Not because I am overly offended by hate, but because filthy comments like that don't deserve a spot in ANY review section.

Good day, forgive my saltiness! I'm done, lol.


	24. Dress Up Mayhem

**Hello again :D I'm sorry for the last chapter/ huge author note thingy. I read it again and again and I couldn't get over how salty I was XD Usually I'm nice but I have, like, 0 tolerance for haters who think that they can write crap like that. Zero. Nada.**

 **Anyways, I'm not completely sure what the suggestee (haha not a word) meant by their request, but I deducted that they wanted an Alice-in-Wonderland-esque party type of chapter? So, IMiraculousTrash, sorry for making ya wait and even more sorry if this isn't what you exactly wanted XD I kinda just went off of what I thought you meant…**

 **Also I recently made a(new) Instagram- I post my art there since I draw and stuff. I also take suggestions, if you wanna see a character I'll draw it! It's** _ **creative_notreally**_ **(a very fitting name), if you wanna check it out and maybe follow! ;-; I just made it Friday, so…**

 **Coughs. SORRY FOR THE SELF ADVERTISEMENT –cries- I'LL GET ON WITH THE CHAPTER. Nice and long and fluffy just cause ;-)**

 **~In this chapter, Marinette's class… experiments.~**

"Alice… in Wonderland?" Alya voiced. Mme. Bustier nodded. "Yes, it's a book written in 1865 by Englishman Lewis Carroll. I reckon not many of you have read or watched it- but you've all at least heard of it?"

Mostly everyone nodded their heads- Max didn't, since he'd actually read the book before, and Chloe didn't since she was busy fixing her hair.

"It sounds interesting," Marinette spoke up. "Like a girl in a magical world. Is that what it is?" Mme. Bustier smiled and nodded.

Sabrina sighed with her chin cupped in her palms. "Alice is such a pretty name!" At Chloe's glare, she instantly added, "But not as pretty as Chloe, of course!"

Rose gasped. "Alice sounds like a girl in pink! Does she dress in pink? Wouldn't that be pretty!" Juleka shook her head and smiled. Meanwhile Nino nudged Adrien in the ribs. "Wouldn't it be cool to experience magic? I wonder what it'd be like!" Adrien coughed and voiced his agreement, emphasizing the fact that he definitely didn't know what magic was like, _no way._ Nathaniel hummed quietly in the back and envisioned this so-called Alice in his mind, doodling faces in his sketchbook.

"Anyways," Mme. Bustier proceeded before things got weirdly off-track like they always did, "we'll be watching the movie- the improvised version, not the American Disney classic- and then next week we'll have a party!"

Mylene gasped, clapping her hands together. "A party?!" The girl squealed. Ivan smiled at her from across the room, unbeknownst to the girl.

"Yes," Mme. Bustier confirmed, "since next Friday is the day before Spring Break, I supposed we could do something fun that also brought a classic into play. You will watch the movie and choose a character to dress up as!"

Everyone excitedly started chattering about how next week would be, and Mme. Bustier's voice rang out amidst the talk, "You will be doing an analysis on the character you chose to dress up as when Spring Break is over!"

There were groans, but the mood was far from dampened.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

The next day everyone eagerly watched the movie in class, gasping at the bits with surprise and action. When Alice fell in the rabbit hole, Chloe snipped, "What kind of sane girl would just crouch in front of a hole like that? That's just dirty and unhygienic! This Alice isn't very smart." Sabrina hummed her agreement, although her eyes were fixated on the projector screen.

As Alice went through more adventures in Wonderland, more and more people began to decide which character they'd like to be. At the end of the movie about two hours later, after Alice's brave defeat of the dragon (Everyone had laughed at the " _Off with your head!"_ line, except Chloe who had shrieked) and the touching scene with the Mad Hatter, the class sighed as the credits rolled onto the screen.

"I can't believe I haven't seen that before!" Alya exclaimed as she stretched in her seat, sliding down. "That was _awesome!"_

"Yeah!" Adrien agreed enthusiastically, seeing as how a lot of films he'd seen were about boring things like _business._ "I think my favorite part was where the White Queen finally got annoyed enough to get rid of her sister." Nino voiced his agreement.

"Well, _I_ think this movie was silly," Chloe huffed. "And the part where she cut the dragon- that, that was just _EW!_ The only thing good about this movie is that Alice is almost as pretty as me," Chloe flipped her ponytail, "and that is saying a lot. I'll have to dress up as her, seeing as she's the main character of course." Sabrina nodded enthusiastically as Marinette rolled her eyes, expecting nothing less. The girl turned to her best friend sitting next to her.

"So who are you going as?" Marinette inquired her mischievous friend. Alya grinned, rubbing her chin. "Well, I was thinking that I could pull off a pretty good Red Queen. Definitely not the hair or eyeshadow, _God no,_ but the rest would be good. And I'd have a reason to smack Chloe- er, Alice."

Marinette laughed. "Now I wish I was going as the Red Queen! I was thinking of being the White Queen, which is ironic because you'll be the red.."

Alya gasped. "Were you really?! That's great! We can totally be enemies." Alya winked while Marinette winced. "Yeah, but calling Chloe my _champion…_ eugh!" Marinette stuck her tongue out as Alya snickered. She then leaned forward towards Nino and Adrien, who were also deep in conversation.

"Who are you guys going as?" Alya questioned, startling the boys out of their chatter. Nino slyly grinned. "Twiddle twins! We're not as fat or identical, but-"

"We could be twice as annoying if we tried," Adrien finished with a laugh. Alya and Marinette giggled. "I'm not sure I'd want to see that," Alya conceded. "But we'll have to manage, won't we, Marinette?"

Marinette chuckled. "I suppose we'll have to suffer, just for the day."

The four of them talked and laughed in class until the bell rang.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Marinette spent the week working hard on her costume; there was no way she'd _buy_ one! Not only were the skirts too short, but it also looked childish and didn't have the right amount of _poof_ at the waist. The only good part of the store outfit was the blonde wig, which she ordered since she couldn't exactly sow one. She did most of her homework and took complete advantage of the fact that nobody was akumatized, much to her joy. By Thursday, her dress was complete and her pre-ordered wig had also arrived. Tikki and Marinette had marveled over the silky wig together and were laughing maniacally as they thought of how Marinette would look in her full outfit. The maniacal laughter was a bit scary, but the wig really was pretty. Marinette's mother had smiled when she'd brought the box in and eagerly ripped it open.

The next day, Marinette actually managed to wake up early to dress in her costume- she set her alarm an hour early, at one hundred percent volume, and to keep repeating every half minute. At first Marinette hated herself for doing that, but eventually was thankful for the annoying alarm because otherwise she wouldn't have been able to dress up.

The white dress fell right up to Marinette's ankles. There was white lace around the shoulders and the neckline, which wasn't as low-cut as the dress the White Queen wore in the movie; and Marinette wore a white-lace choker made out of the same material that lined her dress. Marinette fitted the wig on top of her hair, which was tied in a low bun at the nape of her neck.

She replaced her usual pink lip-gloss for a deep crimson lipstick and didn't put on the eyeliner that usually rimmed her top eyelid; the White Queen had a great amount of natural beauty. Marinette wasn't completely sure she could pull that off, but she left her eyes and smoothed her eyebrows a little before sighing and looking back in a mirror. Tikki flew up to Marinette and landed in her cupped palms.

"You look just like her!" Tikki squealed. Marinette smiled and raised an eyebrow. "How do you know what the White Queen looks like?"

Tikki looked at Marinette with gleaming eyes. "I was also watching the movie, duh! We should watch it again, the dragon part was so cool, too!" Marinette laughed; she definitely hadn't pegged Tikki as a gore-lover, but in a world with magic kwamis and heroes dressed in spandex fighting crime, she supposed it was valid. "Got it. Let's go now, for once I'm not late and I can walk! I wouldn't want to run in these heels, anyways." Tikki giggled and zipped into Marinette's purse as the girl walked across her room, picking it up and slinging it across her shoulder. Marinette lifted her bag up and went downstairs to the kitchen, picking up a croissant and carefully biting in to it as to not smudge her lipstick. She almost kissed her mother on the cheek, but refrained as Sabine laughed. "That's quite the look you have going on there, Marinette! You look stunning!" Marinette sheepishly laughed with pink cheeks.

For once Marinette was able to eat, while sitting down, while _chewing._ Crazy, right?! And she even had the time to drink a glass of orange juice. Marinette sighed and patted her stomach, smiling at Tikki. Her mother was back in the bakery kitchens, so she felt safe talking to the kwami.

"Here," she softly said, slipping in a few cookies which Tikki joyously accepted. "Waking up and being able to get ready feels nice! What if I did this more often?"

"You looked ready to commit murder in the morning, Marinette," Tikki laughed. "But getting ready properly is nice. What do you choose?" Tikki asked with dramatic flair. Marinette tapped her lip in mock thought, groaning and slumping on the counter.

"I don't know, I'm doomed!" Marinette exclaimed, then burst out in laughter with Tikki. She stood up and brushed her skirts off. Picking up her backup, she hoisted it over her shoulder and called over her shoulder as she exited the bakery. "I'm leaving now, Maman, don't wanna be late!" She shouted. "See you soon!"

Marinette faintly heard her mother's farewell before she shut the door, starting the short walk to school. She could see other bizarrely dressed kids walking too, so nobody was really surprised to see the oddity.

Marinette finally reached the school's front steps, immediately recognizing some faces. Max was decked out as the White Rabbit, which was befitting since he was always glancing at his modern watch. Alix had pulled off the Dormouse, which Kim- dressed as the Mad Hatter, surprisingly looking a lot like him- had kept teasing her about because _she was so short just like the mouse and it was funny she'd chosen a mouse._ Needless to say Kim had a sore in his ribs from where Alix had stabbed him with her plastic sword.

Marinette could also see Mylene dressed as Fiona Chattaway, one of the more minor- but definitely pretty- characters in the movie. Rose was an attendant of the White Queen, and Juleka was an attendant of the Red Queen. Nathaniel- sweet, shy Nathaniel- had somehow pulled off a very convincing Knave of Hearts costume.

Marinette spotted Alya across the courtyard, truly looking like the Red Queen despite missing her bulbous head or thick eye makeup. Alya had seamlessly pulled off the 'evil-queen' look. Her dress had numerous hearts on it and her lipstick was applied in a heart shape on her skin.

"Marinette!" Alya called the girl over when she noticed her at the steps, breaking her attention from her dressed-up classmates. Marinette walked over to Alya and grinned. "Alya, your costume is _awesome!_ Is it a good thing to be able to look so evil?" Marinette teased. Alya also grinned widely. "Never mind that, look at _you!_ Did you seriously make this?! And your wig! Jeez, you went all out, didn't you?"

Marinette lightly laughed, faintly blushing from the praise. "Yeah, I made it, but it's no big dea-"

"Don't finish that sentence!"

Marinette cut off and turned around curiously, wondering who'd said that. She was met with Nino, wearing brown overalls over a striped T-shirt. Marinette smiled. "That costume looks awesome on you, Nino!"

Nino pulled one of the overall straps, grinning. "Yeah? It'll look a lot cooler when I'm next to Adrien. I can unleash my annoying nature then."

Alya snickered. "Beware! Where is Adrien, by the way?"

Nino shrugged. "He hasn't come yet. Maybe he's still-"

"I'm right here!" The group jumped as they turned around yet again to see Adrien standing there, slightly disheveled. "Bro!" Nino called, walking towards him. "What happened?"

Adrien had his hands on his knees, panting a little bit. "Chloe." That one word was all the explanation they needed. However, as they tried to get him into the school and out of view, a shrill voice rang out.

" _ADRIKIIIIINS!"_ Everyone winced, Adrien the most. " _DO YOU LIKE MY COSTUME? YOU DIDN'T TELL- UGH GET OUT OF MY WAY! ADRIIIEEEEEENNN!"_

Nino grimaced while Marinette and Alya gaped at the bright blue dot in the distance which was slowly growing bigger and turning more human-like. They whipped around and shoved the boys towards the school. "Go, go, go, go, _go!"_ Alya shouted as Nino stumbled. Somehow she was running in her long gown. "She's here! Run for your life, Adrien!" The four of them sprinted into the school as their other classmates looked on in confusion. When Chloe's shrieking got louder, everyone's eyes widened. They dropped what they were doing and followed what the four students prior had done, stampeding into the school.

When Chloe finally came into the courtyard, sitting atop a heavily panting Sabrina's shoulders dressed as Helen Kingsleigh, it was bone-dry. Chloe shrieked in frustration as she hopped off Sabrina's back, allowing her to breathe. The sun glared and shone off of Chloe's atrocious overly-bright and extremely glittery dress which looked stiff as cardboard. Chloe's hair was let down and a blue cloth was tied around her head as a headband. However, the one boy she wanted to see her costume wasn't there. The dastardly, filthy, poor commoners had taken him inside…

" _ADRIKINS! I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU!"_

It was going to be quite a day.

 **A/N: augh okay, before you come at me PLEASE DON'T KILL ME? LIKE I KNOW I DO LOTS OF TWO-PARTERS, BUT I'M PLANNING TO EASE ANOTHER SUGGESTION INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER. I really wanna do what you guys are asking because it's been long enough. I WILL PUT A CHAPTER FOR THIS RIGHT AFTER! 'CAUSE it isn't like the other chapters where it can be a one-shot on its own, lol. Anyways you all know I LOVE your reviews, and by the way since my attention has been brought to this, it's okay to cuss in my comments as long as it isn't for a hate comment. You want to be excited or sad or emotional, do it! It's all good! We're good! I'm- nevermind.**


	25. Nerf Gun

**Wow… it's been over 2 months. When I said see you again or something along those lines, I never would've thought! And what was it that caused that? Procrastination? Laziness? Demotivation? ALL THREE?! I don't really know! So many things have happened over the past 2 months- some good and some bad. But the thing is, I want to get back to my regular updates. I wouldn't be surprised if my original readers are gone. I'll miss you guys ;-;**

 **But I want to warm up with a nice, silly,** **AU** **. Just to get back on track I guess. I hope you guys like this and please,** _ **please**_ **leave reviews because they mean a lot to me. I know I made a lot of promises, mostly saying how I'd continue a chapter. Like the last one. But no ideas are turning up. I'll try to do that for chapter 25.**

 **~In this snippet, a little suction cup with foam attached to it starts something new.~**

It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday in Paris, with not a cloud in the blue sky and a lovely breeze ruffling the shimmering green grass in the park that many people had decided to go to. Birds chirped and butterflies fluttered about, going above the heads of laughing children as they played and adults who chatted with not a worry.

Alas, but there was one girl who sat at the base of the fountain which was in the park. Despite the beautiful day and cheerful atmosphere, she couldn't help but be annoyed and glare down at the wretched canvas that stared back up at her. Well, she was more annoyed at what was on the small canvas. More like what _wasn't_.

Marinette had been trying for a long time now to design a top that feel loosely around the shoulders and was comfortable. Except the one that she'd made just now looked stiff and rigid, and downright unfashionable.

The girl glared a bit more before sighing and looking up at the sky, trying to ease her thoughts. It seemed like today wasn't the day.

 _No!_ Marinette suddenly thought with a rush of determination, _I'll make today my day. Like this!_ Marinette looked down, ready to add more lines in hopes of drawing what she was thinking of, but before she could lift her pencil there was an odd little _whoosh_ noise and before she could turn, she felt something suddenly stick to the side of her neck.

Marinette's hand instantly went up to slap at it, but instead of a mosquito like she'd expected, there-there was, a, a..

She plucked a _Nerf bullet_ off of her neck and frowned at it. Marinette gave a start when a voice shouted out. "Sorry about that!" A boy with blonde hair and striking green eyes came out from behind a tree, gripping a Nerf gun. "Bad sho- _crap!"_ He suddenly ducked as another Nerf bullet went sailing over his head. "Nino!" He called out with annoyance flashing in his eyes. "Can't you see I'm on time out?"

Another boy came out from behind a different tree this time, tanner in complexion and donning thick rimmed glasses and a red cap set backwards on his head. He was also holding a Nerf gun. "S'not like you were gonna win anyways," so-called 'Nino' said. "You have such a bad shot you hit someone! Sorry about that," he motioned to Marinette, who simply blinked, baffled by the eccentric people.

"My shot isn't _that_ bad," the blond one scoffed and turned his head. "This is only the fourth time I hit someone-" _Fourth?!_ Marinette gaped. "-and besides, I totally destroyed you in fencing!"

"Well luckily we're not fencing," Nino grinned and hoisted his gun over his shoulder. "I win. One more game that I win and you owe me dinner!"

"Whatever," the other one grumbled. He spared a look at Marinette and paused when she locked eyes with him. "Er… sorry about that," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "We should get going now," he motioned to Nino hastily and, with one last nod to Marinette, left.

Marinette had stayed silent through the whole fiasco, not knowing what to say. She fingered the Nerf bullet.

They never did ask for that back.

And she didn't get the blonde's name.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

"I am an idiot," Adrien declared as they Nino opened the door to their apartment. Adrien gently set his Nerf Gun down on the table and then, not-so-gently faceplanted onto their couch.

Nino raised an eyebrow, setting his own gun down. "I know you're into realism and all that, dude, but I didn't know you demotivated yourself."

Adrien lifted his head, hair all mussed up, and pulled a face. "I heard an insult."

Nino clicked his tongue. "Realism."

Adrien sat up on the couch and groaned, eyes crossing in annoyance when a lock of hair flopped onto his face. "She probably thinks I'm an idiot!" Adrien bemoaned.

"She doesn't even know you."

"I was stupid," Adrien sullenly said. "And I just left like, 'we should get going now', who even _does_ that?! When did I get so, so _awkward_?!"

Nino smirked. "Don't tell me you like her, you literally shot her in the neck."

Adrien gaped. "I-no! I just, I was so _weird!_ And you make it sound bad, I shot her with a _Nerf-"_

"Whatever," Nino waved a hand in the air, picking himself up so he could get a glass of water from the kitchen. "Deeeetails."

Adrien screamed into a pillow.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

The next time that Adrien and Marinette saw each other, was coincidentally at the same park a few days later. Except it was raining out. Most people had stayed in, and if they hadn't, they'd brought an umbrella. Adrien was one of those people, carrying a black umbrella above his head to shield himself from the raindrops.

Marinette was not one of those people. She quite disliked rain, but she never read the forecast either, being as impulsive and rushing as she was. She'd hoped to get ideas from a designer outlet, for her own clothes, but nothing had come to mind and now she was stuck waiting underneath a dense tree in the park for the rain to let down a bit. Two joys in the same day, what luck.

Adrien had been walking back to his apartment. He simply went out just to enjoy the rain- without getting soaked to the bone, that is- and was almost there, maybe one-fourth of a block away, when he saw someone standing underneath a tree in the park. Confused by the slightly peculiar sight, Adrien approached the park's gates and crept inside when his eyes widened at what he saw.

It, it was her! The girl who he'd accidentally shot in the neck with a Nerf gun… and humiliated himself in front of…

 _On second thought._ Adrien was ready to turn on his heel, when he saw her expression. She looked downcast, a mix between disappointed and angry. What made it worse was that she seemed this way with herself.

Adrien used to feel that way when he lived with his father, alone in a big house that was unnecessary, before graduating high school and living with Nino for college. He knew what it was like to feel like you just couldn't get _it_ right, no matter what _it_ was, and no matter how much you tried to pick yourself back up again it was always harder the more you fell.

He could see himself in the girl, the girl who was currently under a tree and wincing every so often when a fat drop slid off a branch and splashed on her head. Adrien took a look at his umbrella, took a deep breath, and entered the park, nervously approaching her tree.

He cleared his throat and the girl became alert of his presence, whipping around. Her eyes widened- _he'd only seen those eyes once, it'd taken only one look to notice how blue they were-_ and her mouth opened a bit in surprise. "O-Oh, it's you!"

Adrien awkwardly flashed her a grin. "Yep, it's me! The one with the great aim."

The girl laughed at that and Adrien decided he liked seeing her laugh, a lot more than seeing her downcast with herself.

"I," Adrien continued. "I wanted to say sorry for, er, shooting you. I was going home and I saw you here so…" Adrien held his umbrella out a little. "You can use this."

The girl's eyes widened even more, if possible, and she instantly shook her head. "No! I won't do that, not to someone who barely knows me anyways! I-I was stupid and forgot my umbrella, I can wait it out here. You don't need to do that for me…"

Adrien shook his head and pushed the umbrella out even further. "No, I insist! I, I'm very close to home and if you're waiting here, that must mean you're not very close." The girl blanched at his (correct) logic.

"Here," Adrien said, taking her hand into his (completely ignoring how soft it was, or how warm it was, or how it sent jolts up his arm) and wrapping it around the handle of the umbrella. He coughed, trying to keep the blood from rushing to his face. "I, uh, I guess I'll see you around then."

He turned to leave, but was startled when she called out, "Wait!"

Adrien turned around again to see her holding a hand out. She turned red and withdrew. "Um… my name is Marinette," she quietly said and Adrien's eyes widened. _Marinette._ That seemed like a befitting name. "I'm going to need to return this to you… so…" Marinette squeaked by the end of her sentence.

Adrien blinked before catching on. "Oh!" He exclaimed. "You should have said so," he laughed. "My name is Adrien. I, um…" Adrien dug around in his pockets and miraculously found an old post-it and a pen. He held the post it against a semi-dry patch of bark and scribbled down a series of numbers. "Here," he said, inwardly grimacing at the ratty old piece of paper he was offering to her. But she didn't seem to mind. "You can give it back to me later. Er- the umbrella."

Marinette smiled down at the post-it and Adrien took this fleeting moment to appreciate how calm and serene she looked, and how beautiful she looked with a smile on. _Wait, what-_

"Thank you," Marinette sincerely said. "I'll give this back to you next time then." _Next time._

…

Nino had to ask Adrien why he was smiling so wide. Especially when he was half-soaked.


	26. 4 Minutes- A Reiteration

**Would have taken longer, but I'm starting anew. Oneshots only, please ! I'm not doing any continuations unless I totally feel it. Saying I might continue a chapter that I'm not feeling is sort of discouraging and makes me procrastinate. Lol, oops.**

 **Forgive me if I totally messed the scenes up. I'm going by memory, a set of gifs, and not enough sleep. Lol.**

 **~Psychologically proven, it takes only 4 minutes to fall in love.~**

First Chloe, now this boy.

Both posh, rich, beautiful, privileged French teenagers who she was sure loved spending their time driving misery onto others. As proven, Chloe's old friend had tried to get her to sit on some _chewed bubblegum._

People like them disgusted Marinette. And she made sure to let the _new boy_ know as she turned her nose up, scowled, and sat down. She ignored his defeated look that, admittedly, made her feel slightly guilty. She'd been fooled by Chloe's blue eyes once, long ago. It wouldn't happen again.

…

Marinette grumpily made her way down the hall milling with students. Throughout the day, almost everyone gushed over the new boy- Adrien Agreste, she'd discovered- , asked for his autographs, squealed over his smile, and so many other things which just made her ticked off. Everyone knew Chloe was a witch because she acted like one. But _Adrien,_ he was acting like some sort of saint! And everyone believed. She, in truth, might have also believed it if she didn't have such bad luck and always be the first target.

 _30 seconds_

Marinette opened one of the large doors to the entry of the school and sighed irritably when she was water pelting down relentlessly from the sky. What happened to the rare, sunny morning? Why was Parisian weather so odd? And she hadn't even brought her umbrella. Marinette stuck a hand out and retracted it moments later, dripping wet, and opted for waiting on the rain to thin out.

 _45 seconds_

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Adrien and promptly turned away when he glanced at her. She could tell he hunched up on himself but pushed down the guilt and kept looking at the bleak, empty road.

 _1 minute_

"I…" Marinette blinked, her attention turning to Adrien although she still wouldn't look. "I was trying to unstick the chewing gum off of your seat. It's true, you know." Adrien turned his face a little so he could look at her out of one eye.

 _1 minute, 15 seconds_

"I never went to school before. I never had any friends." Marinette finally turned to see Adrien looking down at his black, closed umbrella, a wistful smile on his face. "All of this, it's a bit new for me." Adrien opened the umbrella and held it over Marinette, to her utter surprise. Why was he helping her…?

 _1 minute, 30 seconds_

The seconds ticked on as Marinette, dumbfounded, switched gazes between the umbrella handle and Adrien's luminous green eyes. For some reason she felt as though she'd seen those eyes somewhere else… she couldn't recall where, though. Finally, she hesitantly reached forward. Adrien abruptly switched possession of the umbrella as he handed it over to her, fingers brushing.

 _2 minutes_

Marinette stood there, with the umbrella, trying to form a 'thank you'. Right as the words were about to bubble from her lips, though, her fingers slipped on the handle and the black cloth of the umbrella closed shut right over her face, leaving her with nothing to see but pitch black. A moment of silence passed before a burst of laughter could be heard, pure and happy and joyful. Marinette hesitantly lifted the umbrella over her face to see him almost doubled over, mouth stretched wide in a smile that revealed all his pearly whites. Marinette giggled a little herself.

 _2 minutes, 45 seconds_

A sleek, black limousine pulled up on the road and Adrien looked back at Marinette, this time with a real smile on his face. "See you tomorrow, Marinette!" She stared after him as he descended the steps to the school, hurrying in to the limo as her mouth opened and closed like a fish.

 _3 minutes, 15 seconds_

"Y-Yeah! Tomorrow you- I mean see tomorrow, you- _see you tomorrow!"_

Long after the limousine had left, Marinette stood there waving and smiling like a fool. Tikki zipped out of her purse and giggled at her new holder. Things would be looking bright despite the cloudy day.

 _4 minutes._

 **A/N**

 **Should I do a ladynoir one? lol**


	27. Selfie!

**Uploading streak YEEEEEEEEE!**

 **Just kidding I bet some of you authors, who are for some reason reading this, are intensely face palming at my definition of streak. Sorry.**

 **anyways I wanted a nice fic where all the girls would sit around and do stupid stuff. Ahh, reminds me of myself! Without further ado, enjoy!**

 **(btw just because im salty, hey Ivette Agreste who so graciously reviewed…. Ever heard of crack fics? ;) it's a thing that I thought was quite clear. apparently not.)  
**

**~It's said that when a group of teenagers get together, their stupidity increases ten-fold. That, my friend, is true.~**

"And then," Chloe said, suspenseful, as Juleka yawned, "the edge of her nail _chipped!_ " Sabrina squealed and buried her head into her arms where they were folded atop her knees, and Chloe shuddered at her own story. "Oh my God, that gave _me_ the creeps and I never freak."

The girls were seated on the floor of Marinette's room, plates of sweets between them. A three day weekend was upon them and Alya had flippantly invited all the girls over to Marinette's place as if it were her own (although Marinette wasn't complaining). And, of course, if Marinette's benevolent mother saw that all the girls had come except for Chloe and Sabrina, she would do some questioning. So she had to invite the two girls, no matter how reluctant.

She had to admit; having Chloe and Sabrina over wasn't as horrible as she thought it would be. Maybe it was just her, but Chloe seemed to act less like a witch and more like a… person. Odd as it was to say.

"That was…" Rose trailed off. "Horrifying for sure."

"I'll be the honest one," Alix bluntly stated. "Children's cartoons are scarier than that."

"What?!" Chloe snapped. "She _chips_ her nail! Are you deaf or something?"

"I'm not short of hearing," Alix snapped back without a beat, "but you might be and a few other thi-"

"Okay!" Marinette loudly intercepted. "Obviously spooky stories aren't cutting it. We should do something else that's more fun."

"Yeah," Alya drawled out, "not even all the lights are out. We still needed a lamp on."

"I need to see myself!" Chloe defensively said, taking her phone out and angling it to see her face better. She pouted her lips out way too much and Mylene held back a snort. "Besides, it's gloomy in here anyways. You need a new lamp."

Marinette rolled her eyes as Alix rolled a sleeve up, a grin etching its way onto her face. "What about a game of truth or dare?!" She exclaimed. Chloe groaned. "That's, like, the only game you ever wanna play."

""Cause it's the only fun one!"

"I actually like the sound of truth or dare," Juleka shyly piped up. "I mean… just us girls… what's the worst that could happen?"

"Atta girl, Juleka!" Alix whooped as Rose agreed. Alya leaned back on her elbows. "Marinette? Mylene?" Both the girls nodded. "Sabrina?"

Sabrina suddenly turned tense as all the attention was turned to her. She stole a glance at Chloe, only to find in her surprise that she wasn't trying to tell Sabrina what to do. She simply looked away and examined her nails.

"S-Sure!" Sabrina happily agreed and the girls grinned. "Well, looks like we're playing," Alix smugly grinned. "Get yourself ready, Chloe!"

"What?" Chloe wrinkled her nose. "No, I'm not playing. I have better things to do."

"Nu-uh!" Alya clicked her tongue and pointed at the blonde. "You got dragged into this by being here. Now you're going to play."

" _Wh-"_

"So whose going first?" Alya cheerfully asked. "Me!" Rose unexpectedly piped up before Alix could even utter a word.

"Wow," Sabrina said under her breath.

"Hmmm…" Rose let her owlish gaze rest on every girl before turning to Mylene. "Mylene! Truth or dare?"

"Why me first?" Mylene moaned. The other girls giggled while she thought. "Fine. Truth."

Rose leaned forward, a twinkle in her eye. "Is it true that you love Ivan?!"

Mylene's face instantly burst out into red. "Uh-um, I-I.."

Marinette smiled. "Looks like Rose brought out the big guns!"

"Y-Yes…" Mylene uttered, then ducked her red face. Alya and Alix whooped while Chloe rolled her eyes. "Come _on_ , if those two don't act like a lovey-dovey couple I don't know who does. That was way too easy."

"W-Well," Mylene turned her face to the blonde. "Chloe. Truth or dare?"

"Me?" Chloe scoffed and placed a delicate hand on her chest. "I'm gonna go with the faster , simpler one. Truth."

"Is it true you wear four layers of makeup?"

" _What?!"_ Chloe screeched. "Who told you that?! It's only three!"

All the girls sweat-dropped. Not like that was much better… Although Mylene definitely went easy on Chloe there.

"Marinette," Chloe said in a sing-song voice. "Truth or dare?"

Marinette narrowed her eyes as she thought. Chloe would probably make her life a living hell if she said truth- _what if she had to reveal all her pictures of Adrien?!_ She knew that Chloe knew about them, and even though she had stashed them all away, if she took them out for even a split second Chloe would snap a picture and send it off to Adrien where he could be disgusted with Marinette in peace. And then she would be a lonely cat-woman forever, not that there was anything wrong with cats, except the ones that made bad puns, but she still wanted some love and-

"Mari~?" Marinette suddenly snapped into consciousness as she swatted Alya's hand away from her face. "Good, you're alive. You were frozen with a horrified expression there." Marinette turned to Chloe to see her propping her cheek up with a hand, smirking. Marinette resisted the urge to stick her tongue out.

"Dare," she boldly said, and Alix gasped.

Chloe's smirk only grew wider. That was when Marinette realized that dare was probably the worse choice. Damn her and her impulsive mind! Why did she only think things through as Ladybug?! "Uh, wait, I mean-"

"Nope," Chloe said, popping the 'p'. "You girls got me into this mess, somebody's gotta pay. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" An evil glint was visible in her eye as she repeated what Juleka had said.

"I dare you, Marinette, to send an ugly picture of yourself to Adrien!"

It was silent. Then…

" _NOOOOOOOOO!"_

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Adrien was having one of the most boring weekends ever.

On longer weekends, he could have more time with friends. Maybe even spend whole days with them. But shorter, three day weekends, were usually boring seeing as the weekend was just two days, and for the Monday off, he had a whole day of all his extracurricular activities. He'd spent Saturday with Nino, Max and Kim at an arcade (and totally destroyed them at most of the games despite what Kim says), but now it was Sunday and he didn't have much to do. For the past fifteen minutes he had been watching Plagg grossly snack on cheese.

That was how bored he was.

So when his phone suddenly buzzed, he curiously and eagerly picked it up to see what it was. He was surprised to find a text notification from Marinette. They didn't text too much, as much as he wished they would, he didn't want to seem overly-creepy. And Marinette somehow found ways to stutter over text through typos, which sort of confused him. But he really did like talking to her.

He tapped the notification and waited for the picture she sent to load, curiosity bubbling in him. Right as it did, Adrien's eyes comically bulged and he burst out in loud laughter, startling Plagg from his infinite snacking.

"What the hell, kid!" Plagg snapped, floating in the air. "Warn me before you oh-so attractively snort like that."

Adrien, for once, was unaffected by Plagg's snarky comment as his giggles died down and, as he took a peek at his phone again, he burst out in another bout of laughter once more. His face was red and he was bent over on the spinny chair he was previously sulking on in boredom.

"What?!" Plagg said with half-hearted irritation. It was better to see his holder laughing genuinely after a whole day of being half-dead with boredom. Although he did wonder what was so funny that Adrien had such a reaction.

The small kwami zoomed forward to look at Adrien's phone, which was on the table. He turned and his eyes also widened much like Adrien's did.

There, was a _very_ attractive picture of one of his classmates- Marinette, was it? It was taken from a low angle tilted up. Marinette was sticking her tongue out, pulling the skin beneath one eye, crossing both of her eyes, and burrowing her face into her neck causing a double-chin.

It wasn't long before Plagg joined Adrien in his laughter. After a good few minutes, and Adrien clutching his pained ribs, Plagg choked out, "Your girlfriend is awesome."

"N-Not my.." Adrien trailed off, tired from the incessant laughter. He didn't notice Marinette's frenzied text until the following morning, as seen:

 **Mari: OHMYGOHADRIEN ADRIEN THAT WAS A TRXT**

 **Mari: TEXT**

 **Mari: THAT THE GORLS DARED ME TO IM SORRY  
Mari: SORRYSPORRYSORYRY  
Mari: OHMYOFHOHSSAKINHJOIHOD**

 **A/N coot kids**


	28. Miscall

**Short.. quick.. had this idea while working on the next, longer chapter! A nice AU! Btw I am SO SO SO SORRY Ivette ! I didn't know there was supposed to be emoji lol. I let my saltiness get the best of me.. heh..**

 **Anyways yeah have this! :D It was inspired by that one scene in Guitar Villain when Marinette can't "handle the pressure" and Tikki gives her a little speech.**

 **~Marinette, defender of the weak, heroine of Paris!~**

"I'm gonna do it!"

"You're gonna do it!"

"This is it!"

"This is it, Marinette!"

"Here I go!"

"Go for it!"

Marinette pursued in her advance, her shaky index finger going closer to the green call button on her screen, and when she was finally a millimeter away she dropped her arm and groaned.

"No, Marinette!" Tikki jumped up from her spot on Marinette's work table and zoomed close to Marinette's face. "You were so close! Next time for sure!"

Marinette groaned again, dragging a hand up her face and flopping back onto her chaise. "We said that last time! What am I supposed to say to him, anyways?! This is too much pressure for me!"

Marinette didn't notice that her thumb brushed the screen of her phone.

"Come on, Marinette!" Tikki earnestly said. "You can't give up! You're Ladybug, fighter of rights, defender of the weak, heroine of Paris! This should be a piece of cake!"

"Agh, but it isn't!" Marinette said. "Not when I become a tongue-tied mess around Adrien, anyways! He has tons of fangirls. What's someone like me supposed to say?"

"Not just anyone can save Paris every day," Tikki reminded. "Use that Ladybug courage and try again!"

"Ah… fine… this time for sure!"

"That's the spiri-… oh…"

"Huh? What's wrong Tikki?" Marinette's expression grew worried as she saw Tikki's face go from cheerful to dumbstruck in a matter of seconds. Her eyes were wide open much like her mouth. "Tikki?"

Tikki pointed one of her little arms at Marinette's hand holding her phone and mouthed 'take a look'.

Painstakingly, almost in slow motion like in one of those dramatic movies, Marinette gulped and looked at her phone.

 _Ongoing call with 'ADRIEN THE BEST PERFECTEST GUY EVER 3'. 00:03:12_

No. No. Nonononono…. This could _not_ be happening…!

Maybe Adrien hadn't picked up and heard all of it? Maybe it was another case, and nobody had heard it at all, and Adrien would come back a few moments later and look at the miscall confused and creeped out, and while that was definitely horrible, it wasn't as bad as him finding out that she, _Marinette,_ was the one in charge of saving everyone's butts on a daily basis-

"…hello?"

Marinette didn't know what to say. She numbly hit the 'end call' button and fell back on her chaise. Her eyes open, but unseeing. Her mind was racing so fast that it was suddenly just a blank slate. (it was very dramatic)

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

"A call?" Plagg zipped forward to Adrien's phone before Adrien could accept it. It was from Marinette.

"Ooh, your girlfriend? Pick it up!" Plagg teased, perching himself on Adrien's head.

"She's not my girlfriend," Adrien lightly snapped even as he tapped the accept button. He put it against his ear and was confused when there was no greeting. He was about to call out hello, when muffled voices suddenly came into focus. There was a high-pitched, sweet sounding voice that he couldn't recognize which was previously muffled.

"…Marinette! You can't give up! You're Ladybug-"

This was the part where Adrien's heart skipped a beat and his body went rigid, causing Plagg to confusedly hop off of his head and put one of his big ears against the phone as well.

"-fighter of rights, defender of the weak, heroine of Paris! This should be a piece of cake!"

At hearing Tikki's voice, Plagg went rigid and dropped out of the air, hitting the ground like a plush toy with a creepy smile plastered to his face much like Tikki when she was seen by Chloe.

"Agh, but it isn't! Not when I become a tongue-tied mess around Adrien, anyways!"

 _Tied tongue… she gets a tongue tied… wait-_

"He has tons of fangirls. What's someone like me supposed to say?"

Evidently what Marinette was already saying, was more than enough. It resulted in a numb, blond part-time-hero with his mouth opening and closing like a fish and a magical, powerful sprite immobilized on the ground. Ah, the great power of true Ladybugs.

"Not just anyone can save Paris every day," the high-pitched voice said again. Plagg twitched on the ground. "Use that Ladybug courage and try again!"

"Ah…fine…this time for sure!" Adrien's mind suddenly screamed at him. She was going to try and call again, then realize he was listening in on her like a creep! Albeit unintentionally, but he could have hung up, and she would hate him _forever_ and- why wasn't he able to move anyways- he could hang up now, if only he could move his hand-

"That's the spiri-…oh…" _Nonononononono-_

"Huh? What's wrong Tikki?" Marinette's sweet, soothing, melodic (what was _wrong_ with him?!) voice took on a worried tone as evidently her kwami named "Tikki" must have realized that Adrien was being a total and complete _creep._

After that it was completely silent. A few more moments and Adrien decided to speak up… stupidly…

"…hello?"

A moment later and there was a beep. _Hello. I actually said hello after she revealed a secret identity to me accidentally. Hello._

…Adrien's phone was lucky that Plagg was there as a cushion to when it fell from his hand, otherwise it would have shattered into too many pieces to count. Plagg had no reaction to when the smartphone larger than him smacked on his face, which sounded rather painful.

The things girls did to boys.

 **A/N:**

 **lol**


	29. Sleepy- Part 1

**I JUST HAVE SO MANY IDEAS AND WANT TO GIVE YOU GUYS MANY UPDATES YOU ARE ALL SO AWESOME 3 STILL WORKING ON THE AU ITS OVER 4K WORDS SO PREPARE YOURSELF**

 **~Sleep deprivation leads to great things~**

Marinette really didn't know how exactly she'd been able to survive through the day after fighting an akuma with rising signs of a fever. While she was fighting, the enhancing magic did wonders to help, but after detransforming she felt like collapsing again.

What made it worse was that the akuma was coffee-based. Yes, coffee. Except the coffee that the akuma spouted out was acidic and poisonous and deadly and a big _pain._ And yet it somehow managed to make the villain all the more energized, like with real caffeine. Marinette only had one class after the attack (yes, they were so used to the attacks that school was not cancelled), which was one of the cases where she was extremely lucky because she basically dropped dead. She couldn't have afforded to miss a whole day of school due to her attendance record which was currently in shambles.

Alya was there for her and promised to send a picture of the notes that they did in class that day. Although she, too, was extremely worried when Adrien showed up and greeted the girls, and Marinette didn't bat an eye. It was all played off as her growing fever, though.

In any case, Marinette was almost home now. She practically dragged herself along on the street, not minding when the occasional bystander looked worried or horrified at the usually-cheerful girl's state. Finally Marinette reached the front door of her family's bakery and sluggishly opened the door, walking in with a slouched back. Was her backpack always this heavy?

"Mari- oh, _dear!"_ Sabine rushed over from the counter and put a hand on her daughter's forehead. She didn't even need to reach up due to her short height this time, because Marinette's slouch had just intensified. Her mother retracted her hand moments later, slightly warm.

"Huh? Oh… mom!" Marinette threw her arms around her mother's neck. "Oh, you wouldn't believe what happened. Me an' Cha-"

A hard and frantic thump at her thigh reminded her of Tikki. Although she couldn't tell why she was hitting her so hard… _oh! She must be hungry! What did she eat again… cucumbers? NO! Cookies!_

"You definitely need to rest, Marinette," Sabine said, pulling away from her daughter and lightly grabbing her forearm. She began leading Marinette up the stairs. "I don't know what you've been through, but you look terrible. I'll come in about a half hour to give you some medicine and a cool cloth, okay? It looks like you have the beginnings of a fever. Right now the bakery needs help handling."

"Thanks mom," Marinette said, climbing up the stairs with difficulty. "Man, my backpack weighs like a hundred pounds," Marinette muttered. "And my legs are so sore…!"

Once Marinette was in her room with the trapdoor shut, Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse. "Okay, Marinette, time for rest," she advised. "You almost blew your cover there! You're ridiculously deprived of sleep."

"Ridiculous…" Marinette cringed. "That word reminds me of Chloe. Ah!" Marinette slipped her backpack off of her back with a thud and her face brightened a little. "That feels so good! Now I should probably rest…" Marinette stumbled over to her chaise and lay down, yawning widely and closing her eyes. She waited for sleep to take her.

…and waited…and waited… and waited.

After a few minutes of fruitless attempts to go to sleep by closing her eyes, Marinette finally snapped them open and shrieked, pulling at her pigtails. "It's like I overdosed on coffee!" She exploded. "I don't even drink coffee! It must be the akuma! Aurgh!"

Marinette blearily sat up and rubbed her head. She was tired but _couldn't go to sleep._ The only thing she hated more than this was… was… Hawkmoth himself!

Marinette looked around the room and saw Tikki dozing on the computer table. A small smile graced her face; looks like the little kwami was tired, too.

That was when there was a loud thump on her balcony and another shriek escaped from her lips, which she immediately covered with her hand. She _really_ wasn't herself, and she _really_ needed rest and she was _really_ tired and- was everything always spinning? And were there always floating specks on the wall? No matter, they were pretty.

Marinette shook her head and got up from her chaise with wobbly legs to see what was on her balcony. If she had been herself, she would've made sure Tikki was ready in case it was something dangerous. But of course, Marinette wasn't herself and that meant she was making stupid decisions. However , she was lucky to see that it was just Chat Noir.

"Hey Pri- whoa, easy there!" Chat leaped off of the railing and steadied Marinette- who was just about ready to faceplant into the ground. "Are you okay?" Marinette leaned back and Chat instantly balked as he realized that no, she was _not_ okay, especially when she was staring at him with lifeless blue eyes and smiling off into space creepily.

"Chat~" Marinette said in a sing-song voice. "Thanks for asking, I'm _feline_ great!" Marinette then hiccupped and giggled at her own pun. "Did'ja hear that? I made a joke…heh…"

Chat's expression grew more worried. In any other circumstance, if Marinette had made a cat pun, he probably would have dropped dead. But this time, he could practically feel the heat emanating off of her, and his suspicions were confirmed when her forehead could be felt burning, even through his glove.

"Okay Marinette," Chat warily said, easily scooping the girl up in his arms, "we're going to get you to rest. Okay?"

"No!" Marinette suddenly blurted and leaped out of his arms with newfound strength that left Chat shocked. "I can't! I just lay there and nothing happens at all. I feel like- like when Chloe tries to do something. It's not _working."_

Chat snorted and covered his mouth with a hand. It was a bit mean, yes, but the joke was still funny. Knowing Chloe's history, he (albeit slightly guiltily) found Marinette's joke befitting of Chloe.

Marinette then ran her hands through her hair. "I know I need rest! I'm probably saying something stupid right now- whoa~!" Her jaw slackened and then she giggled. "There's two Chats~! That's so weird!"

Chat Noir's eyelids drooped in exasperation (but mostly amusement). He totally had to take a picture to show Marinette later. Snickering, he pulled his baton out and snapped a picture of a woozy-looking Marinette pointing at something and smiling widely. In fact, when he looked closer, he could see in the background…

He looked up for confirmation. Yes, there was something small and red on her desk. "What's that?" Chat pointed a clawed finger at her desk and Marinette turned around. "Oh!" Marinette turned back around to face him. "That's Tikki! You should know, you also got a kwami…"

Chat suddenly froze.

"…or so I hope. You're not some weird hybrid cat boy, right?" Marinette then snickered. "Cat boy… hah…" Marinette then started to sway on her feet. "Tikki was tired, but she actually got to sleep… me, I can't…" Marinette fell backwards and Chat instantly leapt forward again to catch her. Straightening her up, he looked at Marinette's peaceful and serene face, her lips now slightly parted with even breaths puffing in and out.

She was… beautiful. And his face suddenly burned with the realization that she was-

"Marinette?" A voice called up from the trapdoor and steps followed, growing louder by the second. Chat instantly snapped out of his stupor and panicked. _What do I do?! I can't just leave her on the balcony…!_

"Marinette, are you asleep?" Sabine opened the trapdoor to see Marinette sprawled out on the floor of her rom, in an awkward position with a blanket tossed on top, a happy look on her face as she slept.

Sabine shook her head and rolled her eyes.

 **A/N:**

 **I would love seeing some art..! if you do art, that is. And let me know! Also my Instagram is creative_notreally, if you want to ask me to draw something, I'll do it since I love art as well \\(^w^)/ (specially when its from you guys lel)**


	30. Sleepy- Part 2

**Feeling iffy about the AU… idk if I should post it. It's quite long too. Oh well, I guess we will see!**

 **Also just wanted to say… I'm astonished that I have over 230 reviews. Can you believe its been almost a year since I started this fic? You guys spoil me, lol!**

 **I wanted to give thanks, for sticking by me even if my writing is not the best and I'm still only 13 and learning. Thanks for sticking with me and helping this fic be a great success. I don't personally acknowledge every single review but I read every single one and it makes me all giddy inside!**

 **Haha , sorry for the sap. I'll stop now  
i thought the Marinette-having-fever-and-blatantly-revealing-herself-to-Chat-Noir chapter was pretty funny and I wanted to make another chapter about it. So, here you go!**

 **~sleep deprivation leads to great things. And not-so-great things, too.~**

When Marinette woke up, she was feeling _much_ better than the day prior. She couldn't remember anything from the day before, just hazy clips and random memories. At one point she thought she remembered Chat Noir dropping by on her balcony, but dismissed it as a false thought- why would he visit anyways? Besides, if he did, she was sure she would have said or done something totally stupid. Good thing he didn't actually drop by.

Marinette yawned loudly and stretched her arms high above her head, satisfied when her muscles felt warmed up. She looked over at her dresser to see Tikki blearily open her eyes and her mouth cracked wide open in a yawn. Marinette giggled at the cute kwami.

"Oh, Marinette!" Tikki blinked a few times and flew over to the girl on her bed. "Are you feeling better today?"

"Much," Marinette nodded. "I was definitely sick yesterday, but looks like Maman took good care of me," Marinette noted the cool cloth still sticking to her forehead underneath her bangs.

"Good, you were practically a walking zombie yesterday," Tikki giggled and Marinette slapped her hands to her cheeks, looking terrified. " _No!_ Tell me Adrien didn't see me like that! _"_

"Uh, he didn't see you like that?"  
Marinette groaned and flopped back on her bed. "Oh, great. I'm gonna be a loner forever. Who wants to marry a zombie?"

Tikki suddenly zipped out of view and Marinette knew her mother was coming up the stairs. As predicted, the trap door opened a few seconds later and Sabine peeked in.

"Ah, Marinette, you're awake! Are you feeling better?"

Marinette sat up again and nodded, peeling the cool cloth off of her head.

"That's good. Yesterday your fever was running extremely high. When I came in here, you were snoozing on the floor with a blanket over you!"

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. She valued her fluffy, comfortable bed a lot. She always made sure to get into bed, even if she was basically falling asleep at her desk from working too much into the night. Was she really that sick?

Sabine caught on to Marinette's expression and nodded. "I thought it was odd too. But you were extremely woozy and the such." Sabine sighed, shaking her head. "I should have recorded it."

"Maman!"

"Get ready sweetie, you're awake early for once and you want to get to school on time," Sabine said sweetly as if nothing had happened and she descended the stairs back down to the bakery, laughing. Marinette huffed, although in amusement.

She swung her legs over the bed and wiggled her toes a little before finally standing up… and promptly falling back onto her bed. "Wow, okay," Marinette mumbled into her comforter. Her legs gave out on her.

After another attempt, Marinette got up on wobbly legs and walked around to warm them up, changing along the way. After 15 minutes, Marinette cautiously made her way down the stairs (for once not running wildly and tripping over herself) and finally seated herself, heaving a long sigh.

Sabine smiled at her daughter before handing her a croissant. "You may feel a bit tired but eating and a walk will help out." Marinette gratefully accepted the croissant and bit into the fluffy bread. Only then did she realize how hungry she was.

Marinette scarfed her food down as customers entered the store. After eating a filling two and a half buttery croissants, Marinette got up and picked up her backpack. "Bye, Maman!" She called as she exited the shop. She had the opportunity to walk, for once, and not have to sprint all the way to school. She saw Alya coming in from the other direction and waved.

"Are you feeling better today, girl?" Alya asked once they'd come together. Everyone seemed to be asking that today.

"Yes," Marinette replied warily. "How out of it _was_ I?"

"Way past dead," Alya easily replied much to Marinette's chagrin. "Even Adrien looked at you all worried and asked if you were doing okay, and you didn't say a word."

"Oh my GOD," Marinette cried in dismay. "I was _rude to Adrien?!"_

"When did I say that…?"

"Hey girls!" A voice called and the two turned to see Nino and Adrien walking towards them, the former being who'd called out. Adrien's face looked suspiciously pink, but Marinette didn't notice and instantly stiffened up.

"Hey Nino, Adrien!" Alya subtly (not-so-subtly) nudged Marinette in the ribs. Much to her surprise, though, Adrien seemed to be looking away from the girls with a pink face- specifically Marinette. Was this what she thought it was? Was it finally happening?! (Alya's inner shipper squeal/screamed intensely.)

"Well I suddenly gotta go, come with me Nino!" Alya grabbed a surprised Nino by the elbow and quickly dragged him away as she ignored his protests, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Adrien and Marinette were also left behind, staring after their best friends who were now a dot in the distance. Who knew Alya could run so fast? All the Ladybug chases must have done some good after all (if she heard you say that, she'd practically kill you though).

"Uhm…" Marinette squeaked when she realized she was alone, with _Adrien._ However when she looked at him, his face was pink and he was looking away. Could it mean…

… _her fever had spread onto him too?!_ Augh, she was such an idiot!

"SORRY!" Marinette suddenly blurted loudly and Adrien jumped a little, finally looking into her eyes. It was true, he was looking at her differently. How could she do this to him?!

"Uh, I mean- I- you sick? I made you? I mean _\- I made you sick_!" Marinette finally said, pink-faced. Adrien looked slightly confused at this. "Huh? O-Oh, no, I'm okay…"

Marinette cocked her head. "But, your face is all pink…"

It turned even more suspiciously pink at that and Marinette's worry overtook her embarrassment. She was ultimately granted with the great ability to speak in coherent sentences.

"Are you okay?"

Instead of answering her question Adrien scratched the back of his head and looked around a little bit more before finally resting his eyes… on the bridge of her nose. "Did… did Chat Noir visit you yesterday?"

Marinette gaped. He didn't see and- and assume, _did he?!_ That cat actually dropped by! She knew her memories didn't fool her!

"U-um," Marinette began, twiddling her thumbs, "I mean, I don't remember, I mean I sorta did, but I thought it wasn't real because Chat Noir doesn't have a reason to visit me- I _am_ just a civilian, heh- but anyways I guess he did, it's not like we did anything- I don't remember anything at all!" Marinette said in one breath, then doubled over and inhaled. She peeked up at Adrien through her bangs. His expression was oddly unreadable.

"Oh, it's okay, I was just asking- I saw him on your balcony last night, that's all, he's pretty cool huh?" Adrien nervously chuckled then had to stifle the urge to smack himself. _Pretty cool_ _huh_? Self-promotion at its finest.

Marinette's gaze softened for a second. "Yes actually," she softly said, surprisingly. Adrien's heart skipped a beat. _Her face when she thinks of her partner… me._ "It's Ladybug that does the cleansing but Chat Noir is the real force of the duo where Ladybug makes strategies," Marinette continued without realizing how Adrien's expression had changed. "He's saved her countless times. She wouldn't be anything without her counterpart." Marinette's words were punctuated by the four minute bell and she suddenly straightened up, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "S-Sorry, guess I was rambling! _Gottagobye_!" Marinette rushed out and sped away to her class, her heart pounding- and not just from the running.

' _The one time I'm able to talk to Adrien and it's about another boy… that dumb cat,'_ Marinette thought, although she smiled when Chat Noir came into thought.

Meanwhile Adrien stood stock still for a full ten seconds as students maneuvered around him, processing what Marinette- Ladybug- had just said.

" _He's saved her countless times."_

" _She wouldn't be anything without her counterpart."_

"Sorry to interrupt your mushy-gushy thoughts," Plagg's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts (which certainly _were not_ mushy, or gushy, or about how amazing and beautiful and selfless Marinette was). "But you're gonna be late to class if you stand there with that dumb smile any longer."

Adrien scowled at Plagg, although it was half-hearted and only lasted a second before his heart was overtaken in those same warm flutters again and his face melted into what Plagg would call a "ridiculously disgusting lovesick smile". He walked forward to class in a daze and just barely made it on time, ignoring Nino and Alya when they prodded at him with questions and only being able to think about the girl sitting behind him.

He'd tell her today.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Marinette was spinning on her chair, balancing a pen on her lip, deep in thought. Had Chat Noir really come last night? And if so, for what reason? Why would he stay if she was sick? How sick had she been? What had happened? Marinette had too many questions to count and it was giving her a slight headache.

"I'd tell you if I could, Marinette," Tikki offered from her spot on Marinette's table as she ate a cookie. "But I'd fallen asleep. We were both tired."

"I vaguely remember not being able to sleep…" Marinette mused. "But not much after that. Just fuzzy little clips and those aren't of any help." Marinette sighed and the pen dropped to the ground. Just then, a thump on her balcony told her that a certain cat had come to visit.

Chat Noir did drop by sometimes just so they could talk and have some hot chocolate. It was pretty nice. She'd long since dropped the awestruck-fangirl act. What Marinette couldn't understand was why he'd stay if she had a fever and was acting all woozy.

Well, now was the time to get answers. Marinette got up and opened her trapdoor as Tikki flew to hide, and a moment later Chat dropped in. "Look what got dragged in," Marinette said teasingly. "A stray cat."

For once, Chat didn't answer just as teasingly and Marinette grew worried. "Chat? Are you okay?" She stepped forward to put her hand on his forehead but he abruptly took a step back, nervously laughing. "Oh yeah, I'm fine," Chat Noir said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just wanted to… ask you something."

Marinette waited for him and under the mask, Adrien silently freaked out as he practically drowned in her eyes. Now he could see why Nino had freaked out and said something stupid that one time he'd-

-he'd tried to set him up with Marinette…

' _Okay, think about all the stupid things you've done later,'_ Adrien firmly told himself. _'You're keeping her hanging…!'_

"Um," Chat cleared his throat. "Do you…" He took a breath and started over. "Were you sick yesterday?"

Marinette blinked, then nodded. "Yeah. And so I've been told. Speaking of, I also heard you came by. I don't really remember, but… is it true?" Marinette cocked her head. "I mean, it's completely fine, but I had a fever and stuff, so why did you…?"

Chat found himself backed into a corner. He couldn't say "I saw you all tired at school and wanted to see how you were doing when you told me you had a kwami", because then he wouldn't get a definite confirmation but a total frenzy.

Instead of answering her question, Chat pulled his baton out from his belt and began opening something up. Marinette was super confused. First Adrien, then Chat Noir- why were these guys acting so weird?

"Yesterday," Chat began, pulling Marinette out of her thoughts. "I… came over, just to _chat_ and stuff. You know?" He smirked and Marinette rolled her eyes at the pun, although relieved he was acting more normal. "And you were sick and acting funny, so, I decided why not take a picture?"

"Chat!" Marinette gaped, betrayed. Chat Noir sheepishly chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, that's not the point," Chat quickly added. "I… I want to ask, what's this little red thing?" He moved over to Marinette and showed her the screen of his baton, portraying Marinette looking like a doofus as she pointed to something off-screen. Marinette was about to protest in outrage when she noticed Chat's claw pointing at-

-at Tikki. Oh, no…

He had to know it was a kwami! After all he used one to transform didn't he? Unless it wasn't clear enough! Now that Marinette looked closer at the picture, she _could_ play Tikki off as a plush toy.

"Uhh," Marinette said, and instantly in her mind the plan went down the drain. She was as subtle as a person holding a neon sign. Still…

"That's a plush," Marinette carefully said. Chat looked disbelieving. _Does he know?! No way. Otherwise he'd be freaking out! Or is that just what I'd do?_

From behind Chat's head, Marinette could see Tikki slowly float up then shrug. Marinette sighed and rubbed her head.

"Um… okay. Let me tell you the truth…"

Chat's heart began to traitorously beat faster. Would he finally hear it? Was it really true… or was his smaller thought of Marinette spewing out random words true? He sure wished not. He could see so many similarities between Marinette and Ladybug- they were practically identical! But he'd seen other girls before with black hair and blue eyes and had instantly assumed. He didn't want to get his hopes up again, not like this.

"I'm…" Marinette's eyes widened and she swallowed. "… _working on a new project!_ Yeah! Like these little beings will be part of a, uhm… whimsical new world. Yeah…"

Chat Noir's ears visibly drooped and Marinette winced. She'd almost told him- why didn't she? He'd almost figured it out till now. What did she have to hide? She trusted him with her life- why couldn't she trust him with this?

No- she could. And she would. But she was too fearful… of the most insignificant things. Like how he'd see her afterwards. How it'd affect their friendship which she didn't know was so valuable until now. The bigger part of her wholly believed that he wouldn't change his opinion because of her true self; but there was a small, annoyingly fearful part of her which just _wondered._ Wondered if he didn't want to associate himself with the girl who was just ordinary in front of the idol that was Ladybug.

"Marinette," Chat softly said, as if he was mindful of her fragile thoughts. Was he? "I want to show you something."

And with that, his transformation dropped in a green light.

 **A/N:**

 **I must love torturing myself with these "must-add-on"s. I could always leave these to your imaginations though… ;-)**

 **HAHA Just kidding. I am most likely going to continue this. Let me know about the AU. And thanks for the amazing support…!**


	31. Sleepy- Part 3

**You guys are so awesome! Welcome Ivette to the early squad ;-) and thank you Guest, for telling me that I managed to get the two dorks in character- that was a big boost! I'm glad I managed to do so! Maybe I just wanted THE FEELS ™ so I made this. Haha**

 **(BTW I JUST FINISHED THE RED QUEEN IN 1 DAY. I NEED MORE. BUT – AUUGHH I MUSN'T SPEND MORE MONEY ON BOOKS…! But its really good as one of those scifi novels give it a go)**

 **The first chapter was all dopey and funny and now there's this. What am I doing**

 **~trust makes memories and memories makes trust~**

He took a measured breath before saying something, careful and slow and deliberate like her mind was made of glass. Whenever Chat spoke to her it was freely. _Not right now._

"Even if you don't trust me… I trust you." _Adrien_ closed his eyes and thought. "Even if you are Ladybug… even if you aren't… I'll wait until you say something." Adrien opened his spring green eyes and looked down at hers, still shocked and gaping and unsure. "I know both Marinette and Ladybug like their privacy." A corner of his mouth upturned as a weak attempt at a smile. "But I still wanted you to know about me. Not until I hear it from you, will I believe about your identity. I won't put my beliefs on your shoulders."

Marinette couldn't believe it. Not only the fact that Adrien was Chat Noir, and that melded together so many scenes and situations that it made her head spin, but that she was acting like a coward in front of someone so selfless, so caring. She was that same coward that was unsure, that almost gave up the earrings, that was losing hope. And there Chat Noir was, selfless as ever, letting her hold onto him, feeding her the _activation energy_ she needed to get a chain reaction going. Even now, when he was probably feeling disappointed (in her cowardliness, that's what), he still put on a mask and dealt with it. And _Adrien_ was _Chat Noir._

She didn't deserve it. She really didn't. Not Chat, not Adrien, and definitely not both of them as one. _They were one._

"Marinette," a voice softly spoke, except this time it was high pitched and a red blur darted up to her face and gently put a hand to her cheek. Marinette didn't notice something warm rolling down her face until Tikki pointed it out. "You're crying."

Marinette stood there, looking lost, torn between wiping the tears, or hiding Tikki, or asking Tikki why she wasn't hiding herself, or- or-

"Breathe," the kwami instructed, and Marinette complied, feeling her heartbeat slow down. Tikki hesitantly hovered away from her face for a few seconds before turning to Adrien- and Plagg.

"She needs help that… that I can't give her right now," Tikki softly told Adrien. Plagg met his holder's eyes with his own luminous greens.

"We'll wait outside," he said softly, for once serious. The two kwamis floated down the trapdoor, leaving Adrien with Marinette. After a moment of silence, he stepped forward. "Marine-"

"You can believe it," she softly interrupted. "I have a kwami. I transform into Ladybug to save the day with my… _truly_ brave partner." She gave half a smile at his confused look. "But I'm not Ladybug."

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you…" He trailed off.

"Ladybug is this idol… of grace, confidence, and- and power. Me, I'm…" Marinette laughed. When did she end up sitting on the floor? "I'm anybody else. I look up to her. Except the difference between me and everyone is that I'm actually far away…" Marinette hugged herself, her blue eyes looking lost. "I'm farther away from Ladybug than anyone else."

Before she can tell what's happening, Adrien swoops down and her head is all of a sudden tucked under his chin as he tightly wraps her in his arms. He's on his knees while she still slumps in the same position as before.

"That's not true," is all Adrien manages to say. His hold tightens on her. "That's not true."

Marinette's view is mostly obscured by Adrien's shoulder and she feels sickened with herself when more hot tears threaten to spill. Why couldn't she stop crying? It made her feel weak. Especially in front of, again, someone who just revealed their identity to a girl like _her._ How much braveness was needed to do that? _I feel weak._

As if Adrien read her mind, he threaded fingers through her hair. It had a lulling effect. "It's okay to cry," Adrien whispered. That was the trigger as Marinette's eyes overflowed and dampened the shoulder of his T-shirt instantly. "Just because we feel vulnerable sometimes doesn't mean we're not graceful, and confident, and powerful," he noted her words from before. "You're a person, Marinette. You can't expect to always be strong for everyone else."

Marinette's hand shakily reached up to twist into his T-shirt, a small part of her mind lamenting at the designer fabric being wrinkled. A rueful chuckle escaped her. "Why do you trust me?" Marinette asked with a hoarse voice. "The only reason nobody knew Ladybug was Marinette, is because we're so- different," Marinette choked out. "Why did you believe…"

Adrien backed away from the hug, but still stayed close as he looked into her eyes, hands on her shoulders. No matter how many tears spilled they were still always going to be that same, captivating shade of blue. "You mean why _didn't_ I believe," he said with playfulness hinting in his voice. "Your whimsical puppet story wasn't exactly fitting, you know."

A small laugh escaped Marinette against her own will. "I trusted both of you before anything else. I guess I just needed a small push," Adrien said softly, his own eyes moving back and forth as they looked at hers. "And then I was totally falling."

As if a light switch was flipped on, Marinette's face was suddenly on fire. She was sitting on the _floor_ of her _bedroom_ as she _cried_ in the arms of _Adrien_ who also happened to be _Chat Noir_ and was comforting her by saying _good things about her and how he trusted her and he basically said he fell for her and-_

It seemed as though Adrien caught on to the implications of what he said, too, because his green eyes were suddenly wide and his face was flushed and he fell backwards in a frenzy.

 _The spell has worn off._

"I-I mean," Adrien stammered. "Y-You know I t-trust you, ha, we're partners and stuff, so-"

"Y-yeah," Marinette hastily wiped away any lingering tears and tried not to cringe when she thought of how she must look. "P-Partners, yeah, totally, course, of course-!"

"I've never seen you smoother," a voice cackled, as a small black kwami phased through the door. The two teens flushed even more when they realized the kwamis were spying on them.

"Plagg!" Adrien hissed, still red in the face. Tikki came in a few seconds later. "You ruined it, Plagg! They were having _a moment!"_ Tikki stressed. The previously serious kwamis were now in a much lighter mood now that their holders had made up. (And finally, they weren't going to suffer through the first-hand experience of watching them be oblivious idiots. No more!)

"Like you weren't ready to phase through and barge into the midst of 'their moment'," Plagg said, doing whatever kwamis did to make air quotes. "I had to physically restrain you."

If Tikki could blush, it was suspected that this was the most red she'd get. "No you didn't! Stop lying!"

Plagg cackled. "The good fairy is lying! What's with that!"

" _Shut up!"_

Marinette and Adrien watched their kwamis interact with shocked expressions. At the same time, they turned and made eye contact and burst into bouts of laughter. Plagg and Tikki paused in their bickering, curious as to why their (crazy) holders were laughing their heads off.

"C-Continue," Adrien grinned, waving a hand. "Who would have thought that ancient, five-thousand year old beings bicker like an old married couple?" Marinette laughed freely, tears forgotten.

In a silent moment where Tikki and Adrien met eyes, she conveyed to him a message that wasn't seen by anyone else. _Thank you._

"Well, I mean, technically-"

"You don't need to listen to anything Plagg says," Tikki promptly interrupted, ignoring her spluttering counterpart.

Adrien turned to Marinette with a smile. "What I said was true. I trust you with everything, Marinette. And I know you trust me too, so tell me the real truth now."

Marinette's cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as she ducked her head. "You still want to hear it, stubborn cat?"

Adrien laughed. "Of course."

Marinette looked up with shining eyes. His breath caught in his throat. "I'm Ladybug," Marinette said, her voice gaining strength. "I am strong. And nothing can get in my way to tell me otherwise."

Adrien took one of Marinette hands in his own. It felt right. More than right. "And with your partner, Chat Noir, you save Paris."

 **A/N: Half debated adding a line of "Sabine, standing in the trapdoor with a cup of tea for Marinette, dropped it and it shattered below on the bakery floor. This was how Adrien and Marinette were alerted of her presence."**

 **LOL**


	32. Fangirl

**I will probably take that multichaptered fic (the unfinished one) and make it into a new story. That's where I'll continue it, IFF I decide to do that. So yeah**

 **Anyways I thought this would be funny**

 **~Chat Noir has a good amount of (crazy) fangirls. Marinette doesn't know how the punny cat has any at all.~**

"Go, Chat!" Ladybug shouted as the villain backpedaled into a plant on the rooftop of the Bourgeois Hotel, wound up in her yoyo with their feet stuck in her Lucky Charm- a big tub of slime. Yes, it was Chloe's fault again. Chloe had gone to an outside café, for what reason nobody knew except maybe to beat someone else down- which is exactly what she did. This time her victim was a barista, who was only giving Chloe what she'd ordered and instead got snapped at for not brewing anything right, not adding enough creamer or sugar, and for defying "royalty like her". It had resulted in an angry akuma who spit acidic coffee and used infuriating weapons made out of that s _ame acidic coffee._ Not to mention there were cream and sugar bombs. What a day.

Chat sprinted forward and expertly dodged spurts of acidic coffee sent his way from the akuma on the ground (with a few tricks thrown in for his Lady) and he flipped once in the air before landing on the akuma and ripping his apron off with ease in his bubbling right hand. He leaped away with catlike grace and tossed the apron to Ladybug, who blew it away in a cloud of black dust. An akuma emerged and Ladybug purified it in a heartbeat, setting it free with a "bye-bye, little butterfly".

Chat Noir yanked the unmoving victim out of the slime and gently set them on the ground as Ladybug lifted up the tub of slime and threw it in the air. Ladybugs swarmed out, repairing any burning holes in the city left by the acidic coffee.

Ladybug turned to Chat Noir. "Good job!" They fist bumped, right as Ladybug's two spots beeped and reduced down to one. Chat Noir still had four minutes left, as he's used his Cataclysm after Ladybug used her Lucky Charm.

"Well, I'll head out now," Ladybug said, already hooking her yoyo onto something in the distance. "See you later, kitty!"

"Till next time, My Lady!" Chat Noir bowed in a dramatic flourish and Ladybug snorted before pulling away.

"Well I guess I can hang around," Chat mused to himself. "I've got three minutes to spare. I'd rather not go back in that house too soon, either."

Chat Noir made up his mind and used his baton to leap down from the Bourgeois Hotel. He could already see many reporters and journalists waiting for him. But as he reached the ground, it wasn't the reporters who tackled him, but…

"O-M-G! CHAT NOIR!"

…were those what they called "fangirls" in America?

A blonde blur who wasn't Chloe for a change wrapped herself around his arm, much to his chagrin (as much as he was happy it wasn't Chloe). Several squealing girls followed and crowded around him. The reporters smartly backed off before Chat could cry out for help from the monsters.

"U-Uh…" Chat awkwardly tried to pull away from the girl who had a vice-like grip on his arm. _Screw it, you're not Adrien, you're not needed to be kind!_ He could practically hear Plagg say in his mind. But he was a hero and had to set an example.

"Chat Noir, so you were sooooo brave today!" A brunette in the crowd of about thirteen surrounding him spoke out. "Like the flips and stuff! Ohmigod!"

"It was _hot,"_ another girl spoke out from somewhere in the crowd, causing an outburst of agreements to follow. Chat awkwardly inched away. They followed.

His ring beeped once. Three minutes.

 _I thought I could get away from this as Chat,_ Adrien sourly thought.

With a little more force this time he yanked his arm away from the blonde girl, who blinked once. "Sorry, but I need to get going," Chat firmly said.

She pouted her bottom lip out in a very Chloe-like fashion and clasped her hands comically. If it wasn't him stuck in this situation, he'd laugh at how ridiculous it looked. "Please stay for just a minute," she pleaded. From this anyone could conclude that this was another spoiled, privileged girl, maybe not so much as Chloe, but still not very used to being denied. "You have three minutes anyways! You're, like, _my_ hero! My kitty!"

Chat exasperatedly sighed, nothing that any of the girls noticed. How could he get out of this without seeming like a jerk?

"He's everybody's hero, actually, since he sort of saves Paris on a daily basis."

Everyone turned their heads toward the source of the voice- an irritated Marinette. For a split second Chat thought it was Ladybug, but he _definitely_ wasn't complaining when Marinette came around to save him. He got lucky for sure this time- how odd!

The brunette of the group scowled at Marinette and put a fist on her hip. "And who are _you?_ "

Marinette glared her down and crossed her arms. Despite her shorter stature (and the fact she wasn't clad in heels like the brunette), she seemed to be looking down on the other girl. "Who I am is none of your business. And who Chat is, is none of your business either. Can't you see he's about to change back?"

Indeed, he had two paw prints left on his ring. He was caught up between being frustrated, annoyed, and deciding whether to just ditch the girls and leave a bad message or stay and endure for one more minute.

The brunette flailed for a response to that while Marinette nodded at Chat. He gratefully nodded at her and pulled his baton out, jumping away in seconds. When the throng of fans noticed this, they screeched. Half of them uselessly chased Chat, tripping down the streets in their heels, and half of them stayed to lament and screech at a smirking Marinette.

Later that evening, Chat Noir dropped by on Marinette's balcony. As she'd expected. He was surprised when she wordlessly handed him a cup of hot chocolate.

"An endearment for your knight?" Chat teased, taking a sip and almost going slack-jawed at the rich, creamy texture and flavor.

Marinette scoffed half-heartedly. "Take it however you want." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I didn't know girls usually followed you around like that?"

Chat shrugged. "I didn't know either. Usually I change back immediately, but this time I had an extra minute. I guess they've been stalking me or something." Chat shuddered. "Creepy."

Marinette laughed and Chat blinked, a grin growing on his face. "What? Is somebody _jealous?_ " He sang the last word, leaning in. Marinette slid farther down the balcony railing, still laughing.

"As if. I just couldn't believe anyone would fangirl over a cat who makes bad puns."

Chat Noir gasped, placing a hand to his chest. "I'm offended. Of course people want a _valiant_ , meow-nificent knight!" Marinette groaned while Chat beamed. "Don't act like you weren't fangirling the first time you helped me out with Evillustrator."

Marinette snorted into her cup of hot chocolate. "Then I assume you didn't see me mocking you behind your back," she smirked into the rim of her cup as Chat gaped.

"You _what?!_ "

The two shared an evening full of chatting and laughing in each other's company. When Chat left a good hour later, both of their cups long since drained, Marinette leaned out on the balcony and looked to the streets below. _Gah. If any other girl says "My Kitty" in that cringey, disgusting way I swear I'd blow a fuse!_ Marinette paused as she mulled on what she had just thought.

Was she… she couldn't be. But she was. She was totally, undeniably…

…going to change her nickname for Chat as Ladybug. If it was half as cringey as when she said it, she'd probably have to apologize to Chat.

 **A/N: let's face it. At least one of you people out there fangirls over Chat. Don't deny it**


	33. A Cat's Paw

Cats can get past the fingerprint thingy… right?

 **~Reverse crush AU in which Adrien must retrieve Marinette's phone to delete an embarrassing text, and in the process, discovers something interesting about Plagg~**

"You're being way too dramatic about this, kid," Plagg stated, bored, as he followed his frenzied holder through the very pink, yet posh room. Marinette was currently away at a designing contest, as Sabine had stated, she'd been in a crazy rush. And now Adrien's objective was to delete his horrible message before Marinette would hear it and totally freak out and file a _restraining order on him-_

"Pfft, your face!" Plagg howled with laughter as he watched Adrien's face grow distressed. Adrien snapped out of it and irritably shushed Plagg with a finger. He'd told Sabine that he needed a textbook back from Marinette, and so she'd allowed him to come up to Marinette's room. But she certainly didn't know that he was secretly Chat Noir, and with him was always a very annoying and lazy demigod who got into troubling situations. Nope.

"Shh, Plagg, you're being too loud," Adrien hissed. "I just need to find her phone and get out."

"What, so you're going to steal it?"

"I'm going to return it! Just… once I unlock it… and delete the message…"

"Oh my gosh, you're totally going to steal!" Plagg's laugh was shushed by his holder's finger again. The kwami floated higher midair and snickered. "Who would've thought, goody two-shoes is going to _steal someone's phone?_ "

Adrien groaned and resumed his search, carefully opening and closing drawers. "I _will_ give it back once I delete the message! And that's if I even find the phone, Marinette's room is pretty big…"

Plagg snorted, unhelpfully spinning around in circles. "That's coming from the kid with a room bigger than an apartment."

"Oh, shut up."

Adrien paused to admire one of Marinette's works-in-progress, a hat on a mannequin bust, before realizing where he was and how much time he had. He hastily continued his search. Luckily, Sabine was busy attending to customers, so she wouldn't notice how long it was taking him.

Adrien opened yet another drawer and finally found a sleek black device, amongst other miscellaneous scraps of fabric. "Yes!" Adrien victoriously picked up the phone and examined it before turning it on.

Oh no.

Plagg must have seen Adrien visibly droop because he came over to sit on his holder's head. "What's up now, Romeo?"

Adrien groaned and resisted the urge to drop to the ground. "It's a fingerprint password," Adrien sighed, holding up the phone for Plagg to see. "Of all the types of security for her to use, she uses _fingerprint…_ there's no way to get past this…"

"Well I still think you're being dramatic," Plagg bluntly said. "Now instead of fawning over her from behind a bush, she'll know, right?"

"I called her _cutie_ in that message, Plagg! My life might as well be over!"

Plagg leaned forward on Adrien's shoulder. "It could have been worse…?" He touched an arm to the phone's screen and instantly retracted it when the lock screen melded away to show Marinette's home screen. Adrien visibly gaped.

"Whoa, what the heck?" Plagg scrutinized the phone. "Looks like her security sucked after all, huh-"

"Oh my God, Plagg," Adrien breathed. "How did you _do that?!"_

Plagg blinked, questioning his holder's sanity as Adrien stared at him with his interest growing. "Uh, I don't know?"

"OH MY GOD," Adrien suddenly blurted. "I've seen videos of this?! Like, someone gets their cat to put a paw on the phone screen with a fingerprint password and it unlocks-"

"Whoa, there, I am no _house cat,_ " Plagg interrupted as he hopped up and floated above Adrien's head. "I'm a kwami. A _demigod._ With the powers of destruction and bad luck and the ultimate force. You cannot compare me to a house cat, no matter how much they're the best pets for you weird humans."

Adrien ignored that, and instead peered up at Plagg with excitement growing in his infuriatingly perfect features. "Would it work when I transform?!"

"I _don't know-!"_

Adrien later tested that out, much to Plagg's irritation; not after he successfully deleted the message, though.

 **Bonus:**

Adrien rolled his eyes at Nino, who was intensely face palming. "What do you want me to say? 'Hey, cutie, I'd ask you out, but I'm not half as suave as people make me out to be and I am a total mess around you.' That?"

Nino rolled his eyes in turn. "Totally. She'd definitely want to hear that. Seriously, though, dude, you legit just talked about being on her voicemail."

"Not my fault-!"

" _To send your voicemail, press one. To delete your voicemail, press two."_

Adrien froze and robotically looked towards his phone before lurching forward and tapping two, repeatedly, _aggressively._

Somehow, by some turn of luck (like he had any?!) the phone registered his tapping of the number two as the number _one_ and send the message.

…

"Crap."

"Uh- at least now she knows?"

"Kill me now, Nino."


	34. Henna

**I did henna and I was like wow hey henna yeah henna henna? Yes henna (me~hin~di)**

 **I love dumb reveals**

 **~henna is a great thing (also I really didn't try with the name of the akuma here) ~**

"MY NAME IS HENNA MASTER!" A woman with many menacing-looking, sharp cones of henna floating around her shouted to Ladybug and Chat Noir. They were situated at the base of the Eifel Tower, where many fights had already taken place before. The woman had long, dark hair and, admittedly, beautiful designs inked into her arms and face around her red eyes. A flowing, mahogany dress completed the look. "AND IF NOBODY WILL APPRECIATE HENNA, I WILL _MAKE_ THEM!" With that she whipped out one particularly large and sharp cone of henna and wrote the word 'knives' in the air. A few seconds later the henna morphed into actual knives and shot themselves at Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Chat Noir stepped in front and swung his baton out in a flawless, powerful arc, the knives heading in opposite directions mere moments after his baton was back at his side. Chat Noir smirked back at his partner. "Impressed yet, M'Lady?"

Ladybug rolled her eyes with a smirk of her own. "Not when I can do something cooler!" Henna Master ignored their playful banter and this time shot out 'knights'. Fifty oak-colored faceless men appeared and charged at the duo. Chat stood back casually, as if there wasn't a battalion charging at him, and watched Ladybug (with adoration in his eyes) as she flipped into the air and performed a complex series of tricks with her yoyo that ultimately took out the soldiers. She jumped back to his side and planted a fist on her hip. "What was that, _chaton?"_

Henna master snarled a few feet back. "They think I'm playing, just like everyone else did!"

' _Then let them know what you really mean. Take their Miraculous!'_ The persuasive voice in her head like velvet pushed, and she jumped to action.

This time she leaped forward herself and angled her cone at Ladybug first. Before Chat could do anything, Henna Master wrote out in elegant cursive on Ladybug's torso: 'whirlwind'. Less than a second later, Ladybug shouted in alarm as she was whisked away by winds only meant for her. She missed Chat's outstretched claws by a hair and Henna Master smirked as she watched the heroine fly off to some other place far away in Paris.

' _What are you doing?! I want her Miraculous! Do not forget!'_

' _Don't worry, Hawkmoth. Taking them out when they're windblown must be easier!'_

Chat Noir glared and brought out his baton in a fighting stance. "Now you've gone and made a cat angry!" He charged and swung his baton at the villain, whom blocked with her cone. Chat recalled Ladybug stating that the akuma had to be in her cone. Processing this information, Chat shot a hand forward and grinned in triumph when he snatched the cone. Only for the grin to fall off of his face moments later and be replaced with disbelief when he realized she had _multiple_ as she pulled out another _._ In fact, the one he'd snatched was significantly smaller than the one she'd wielded in the beginning of the fight…

…and wrote on him with. Before he could realize what was happening, he too was soaring through the air- and not in the invigorating way he practically got drunk off of. No, this was faster and out of control and left him crashing on the ground, right next to Ladybug who was beginning to sit up and groaning. "What a fall,' she sighed, then looked over to Chat and gasped. "Chat! Did you get her cone?"

Chat Noir groaned and sat up reluctantly. "Turns out she has more than one," he sighed. "This is just an ordinary cone in my hands…" Chat looked down at it and smirked before catching Ladybug by surprise and drawing two cat ears on her cheek. Ladybug gasped and moved to wipe it off, but Chat stopped her. "No way! It looks so amazing. Cat's honor!"

Ladybug half-heartedly glowered at him before snatching the cone the cone from his hands and squeezing the henna out onto his cheek into some design he couldn't identify. She stuck her tongue out.

Just then, Henna Master arrived with a loud thump on the ground. She'd written on herself with henna to launch herself to where the heroes were to be. An evil smirk graced her lips. "Now, you can give up your Miraculouses easily. Or we can do it the hard way!"

The heroes jumped up and Chat swayed a little. Despite the protective suits, the fall had been pretty rough. Henna Master seemed to be aware of this as her smirk grew even wider and she began pulling out her cone. "The hard way, then!"

 _Ladybug and Chat Noir barely dodged the next flurry of attacks, which were put forth with more speed and force than before. Henna Master was getting relentless and they'd both suffered from a pretty bad fall._

 _Ladybug decided that this was the time to play her wild card. "Lucky Charm!" She shouted as her yoyo was shot into the air. What fell into her hands was…_

 _…an air pump._

 _"You do you, Bug!" Chat shouted as he spun his baton to fend off the relentless attacks. "But maybe do it quickly!"_

 _Ladybug looked around. Her vision emphasized Chat and all of Henna Master's cones with her spotted vision. Just like that, she knew what had to be done._

 _"Chat!" She called. Her partner's only indication of hearing her was the fact that he nodded once. "Destroy her little cones. All of them!"_

 _Chat Noir jumped back and nodded again, not questioning her. "Got it! Cataclysm!" Chat raised his hand in the air, watching as black energy bubbled in his hand. He swiped it once and then ran forward, sliding under and jumping over attacks that Henna Master sent his way with unadulterated skill. Finally, when he was right in front of her, he swiped across the cones that were hanging around her waist. They all fell away into black ash. Henna Master shrieked as Chat jumped behind her. "You little-!"_

 _"Hah!" Henna Master whipped around yet again to see Ladybug lunge forward with the air pump and stick it into the tip of her large henna cone. With one big push, Ladybug pumped some air into the cone and took the pump out of the cone. Chat stared confusedly._ _How's that going to work?_

 _His silent question was answered when Henna Master tried to release some of the paste through the cone. Her attempts, however, were fruitless as the air bubble in the cone wouldn't let any of the mixture past. With that, Ladybug snatched the cone and ripped it in half, grimacing slightly when the paste got all over her arms. The akuma emerged from the mess and Ladybug quickly caught it, purifying it and sending it off with a "bye bye, little butterfly". She picked up the air pump and hurled it up to the sky. "Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybugs erupted out of the item and swirled around, reversing any damage the akuma may have caused. Chat Noir went to comfort the victim, a woman who seemed to be Indian or Pakistani._

 _It was routine from then on. Journalists swarmed the duo, a few lucky ones had a question or two answered before both teenagers leaped off and detransformed._

 _What Marinette and Adrien didn't notice, though, was the fact that their faces still had the henna on it even after the miraculous charm and detransforming. Because technically, it wasn't the akuma's doing… in any case, they both scratched some odd brown substance off of their cheeks in confusion and shrugged it off, both wondering why their kwamis were so amused and unknowing of the ink in their cheeks._

 _The next day at school, it was all Marinette and Adrien could do to not gape and stare at the other. Marinette, with a little pair of cat ears on her left cheek; and Adrien, with a small ladybug on his right cheek._

 _ **And they pulled it off like pros. Lol**_

 _ **For those who don't know, henna is like a paste made from leaves… you can put it on your skin and when it's dry, you remove it. It temporarily leaves ink in your skin. It's actually good for you, they sell separately for your hair which would turn it reddish. It recently got popular in western culture, but it's verryyy common in subasian countries.**_


	35. Subconscious

**I love reviews (not the assholish ones, that is) and I would appreciate it if you would leave 1…! Maybe we can reach 300 by the end of May, yeah?**

 **~silly ol' Marinette~**

Marinette somehow got to school before Alya, by the decree of some unknown school lord, and was sitting there talking to Nino (and Adrien. _Adrien!)_ about something or other with a smile on her face when Alya burst through the doorway, heaving and panting.

"Good morning," Marinette greeted, chipper, along with Nino and Adrien. "I actually got here befo-"

"MARINETTE!" Alya shouted, even though Marinette was just a few feet away. Marinette instantly dropped her hand from greeting and sweated as all attention in the classroom was trained on her.

"Uhh- is something wrong? You shouted and now everyone's sort of staring at us…" Marinette turned red under the inquiring, green eyes of Adrien.

Alya marched up to her desk and slammed her palms down. "'Fess up," she ordered. "Why didn't tell me before?!"

Marinette stared. "Tell what now?"

"Your _secret!"_

 _Ohhh._ Many times now Marinette had thought that Alya was talking about her being Ladybug- which, by the way, was totally impossible for her to know- and then figured out that there was another subject that Alya was talking about. By freaking out and jumping to conclusions, Marinette would just be more suspicious. So, she must have done something recently… hmm…

 _Oh! Was it that the chocolate croissants now have a little less sugar? I know Alya likes sweet food but the bakery could afford to lose an extra bag of sugar…_

"Well I didn't think it a big deal," Marinette began, causing Alya to gape. Was she really into the croissants that much? "My parents knew, of course, and basically everyone else who ever visited the bakery," she continued on, not noticing Alya's close-to-hysterical behavior and how Nino and Adrien progressively got more worried at that. "I guess you didn't since, I don't know, you had better things to do? But it's really not a big deal… hey Alya, you ok?"

Alya, basically hyperventilating at this point, stopped to take in one deep breath. " _HOW IS YOU BEING LADYBUG NOT A BIG DEAL?!"_

"…"

Marinette paused. Everyone in the classroom paused. _When did Alya become Lady Wifi again?_

After a too long silence, Marinette- who was still staring- dumbly uttered, "Wha?"

Alya pulled at her scarlet locks. "Don't try to tell me you're not 'cause I saw and if everyone knows then I can't believe I didn't notice 'cause I run the freaking Ladyblog and I _am best friends with Ladybug and WHY DIDN'T I KNOW BEFORE-"_

"How… wha…" Marinette barely kept up. _Alya saw… so I can't make up some stupid excuse? NO! WHAT'S GOING ON?! So this isn't about the croissants… wait, Alya knows?_

After her rambling Alya exhaled deeply. "Sorry. I just… if everyone knew I just wish someone had told me. Wasn't it obvious I didn't know who she was if I kept trying to find out?" Alya looked around the classroom at the shocked faces of her classmates. "Guys?"

Suddenly Alya balked. "I somehow get a feeling that I misunderstood…"

Instead of answering , Marinette turned to her little coin purse, Tikki being her only source of any mild solace. Now it didn't matter if anyone saw the kwami, did it?

"Tikki!" Marinette said half-accusingly, half desperately. The red demigod floated out of her purse, seemingly unaffected by the current situation. "I thought you said there was some sort of… of magical barrier! That kept people from _seeing!"_ The multiple shocked screams of her classmates at seeing Tikki was ignored.

"Yes, unless a subconscious part of you wants someone to see," Tikki added. "The barrier molds to your will. So at some point you started wanting someone to know, Alya being that person who you wanted to know the most, and it happened." Tikki said simply.

"Wha- no way! It can't be! Can it? Oh, this day is a mess! And to think I actually came early…" Marinette grumbled.

"What's going on?" Madame Bustier walked in to see a disheveled Alya, a shocked classroom, and Marinette talking to a little red floating thing. And why was Adrien rocking in the corner…?

"Wait!" Marinette shouted again, causing Madame Bustier to jump a little. Marinette stood up. "Then why were you always telling me to follow my heart and, _not tell anyone?"_

" _What is going ON?"_ Nobody answered her again.

"Because I also follow your subconscious to encourage you," Tikki sweetly said as if it were obvious. "And I'm doing it right now too, since your subconscious wanted these people to know."

"I DON'T FEEL ENCOURAGED!"

The classroom erupted into questions, and conversation, and screeching (Chloe) alike. Nino helplessly tried to console Adrien from whatever it was that was wrong in the corner.

"Hold on a minute," Alya suddenly interrupted with her hand in the air, talking over the other teenagers. "If you didn't know what I was talking about, then what were you telling me just now? What secret was _that?"_

Marinette blinked then sheepishly smiled. "Oh… I thought you were talking about croissants…"

"DO YOU HAVE NO FAITH IN MY PRIORITIES? Wait, what about the crois-"

"ENOUGH!" Madame Bustier suddenly shouted, shocking the loud classroom into silence. "I want an explanation, right now!"

Alya looked at Marinette, and they both nodded. She turned to Madame Bustier with a serious look on her face. "I saw Marinette detransform- er, Ladybug detransform-… well, they're the same person… AHEM! I saw that yesterday and freaked out and today I came to school and Marinette was somehow here early so I decided to ask her about it- but I never do questioning silently, you know? So I shouted 'Marineeettteee'-" Alya waved her arms here. "-and she was like 'what!' and I was like ''fess up, what's your secret!' And Marinette got all confused and thought I was talking about croissants, for some reason I do _not know because croissants are not that high of a priority,_ although she still needs to tell me, I really didn't catch on to what she was saying about them-"

"Alya," Marinette interrupted. "Getting off topic!"

Alya turned a bit red. "Right," she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Ok, so she said stuff about croissants without ever mentioning the croissants in the explanation, so I thought she was talking about Ladybug, then she said something about everybody knowing and it not being a big deal. And naturally I freaked out, I mean, _who wouldn't,_ and I shouted like 'HOW IS BEING LADYBUG NOT A BIG DEAL?!' And she got all confused, and quiet, and then I realized I messed up big time. Then she whipped out her coin purse, and started talking to… uh, Tikki, was it?" The little red being nodded in approval. "Yes, Tikki, and Marinette consciously wanted something different from her subconscious, bla bla, wise stuff, I didn't catch on. So yeah."

Alya nodded, running the events over in her mind. "That's about it."

Madame Bustier stood there with her mouth open. Her clipboard was on the floor. After a few seconds, she slowly closed her mouth and rubbed her temple. "I'm sure the post-shock of this will hit me soon," she grumbled. "But why is Adrien rocking in the corner?"

"Huh?" Everyone looked over to see Adrien depressingly hunched over with Nino sitting like stone beside him. He had a dead look on his face. (Adrien still looked photogenic… infuriatingly.)

"Uh…"

"Adrien subconsciously wants you all to know," a little black being shot out of Adrien's jacket, causing multiple people to shriek and jump back. This finally seemed to snap Adrien out of his reverie as he leaped up and tried to grab the being, but he was too late. "He's Chat Noir."

 _Freeze._

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Plagg," Tikki exasperatedly broke the silence. "That's not how you do it!"

"What," Plagg snickered, "isn't that how you did it? Beside, look at our holder's faces!" Marinette and Adrien were in eye-lock with the oddest expressions ever, ranging from shock to familiarity to 'how-did-I-not-notice' to 'ohmygoshIdidthatwith _HIM/HER?!'_

Tikki shook her little head. "Now everyone is traumatized," she chastised, looking around at the people who didn't dare move. "And they were finally beginning to accept one reality! You just thrusted another one upon their shoulders!"

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg waved it off. "Is it that hard? Marinette and Ladybug, same blue eyes and hair and voice. Adrien and Chat Noir, same _green eyes and hair and voice._ Humans are so dramatic…"

Adrien promptly fainted, Marinette moments after. A few more seconds ticked past until there was a classroom full of unconscious teenagers and a teacher.

"Oh boy."

 **Idk**


	36. Superhero Squad- Group Chat

**I've always wanted to try my hand at those cute lil texting fics, u know?**

 **And also THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO MUCH ! 275 reviews, I am totally astonished, I got so many positive reviews recently that my cheeks hurt from all the smiling. I don't call out names or the such but I SAW, and I SEE! I love reading them so much honestly, it motivates me to write more. And im rambling now**

 **~group chats are fun! Until the world ends up in flames~**

Underlined: edits made to the chat

 **Bolded: Usernames/ group chat names**

 _Italics: Speech_

NOTE: This is post reveal. Nino is the turtle boi. Superhero squads! Also has some minor cuss words? Not really

…

:Sunday, April 23, 11:03 AM:

 **foxy~mama** has added **cat~son, lil~bug, busy~bee** , and **theturtle** to **'Superhero Squad (^_-)'**

 **foxy~mama** _: rise and shine kiddos_

 **foxy~mama** _: its a new day_

 **foxy~mama:** _gonna kick some akuma ass_

 **busy~bee** is now online.

 **busy~bee:** _more like gonna kick some fox ass_

 **busy~bee** _: what are you even doing_

 **foxy~mama** _: is it so wrong to want to chat with my friends Q_Q_

 **busy~bee** _: don't you dare do this_

 **foxy~mama:** _just a neglected fox here all alone Q_Q nobody to turn to_

 **lil~bug** is now online.

 **foxy~mama:** _mARI MY LOVE!_

 **lil~bug** _: Uhh Alya? Are you alright_

 **foxy~mama:** _chloe here thinks she can abuse me just cuz shes a queen Q_Q_

 **busy~bee:** _oh my god_

 **cat~son** is now online.

 **busy~bee:** _great even more people_

 **cat~son:** _Huh_

 **lil~bug** _: I thought you liked his presence_

 **busy~bee:** _have you heard his puns?_

 **busy~bee** _: actually nvm_

 **foxy~mama:** _nvm is right this girls been suffering long bfore us_

 **cat~son:** _Is this just a place to collectively roast me?_

 **foxy~mama:** _no_

 **busy~bee:** _yes_

 **cat~son:** _Gosh well if I'm so underappreciated I'll just make like a stray and leave Q_Q_

 **lil~bug** _: Everyone knows strays come back, kitty_

 **cat~son** _: (=^.^=)_

 **busy~bee:** _please flirt elsewhere_

 **foxy~mama:** _nah this is good_

 **cat~son:** _Alya no_

 **foxy~mama:** _alya yES_

 **theturtle** is now online.

 **foxy~mama:** _todays a good day loves we're all here so quickly! xOxO_

 **theturtle:** _another one of these?_

 **cat~son:** _Well if somebody isn't all popular_

 **theturtle:** _sorry bro_

 **cat~son:** _I'll led it slide this time_

 **theturtle:** _even tho Ive never heard anything more ironic in my life considering ppl flock u_

 **foxy~mama:** _nino i thought i was your only one D:_

 **theturtle:** _here I see all these dank nicknames_

 **busy~bee:** _he just said dank_

 **lil~bug:** _dank…_

 **theturtle:** _and my name is theturtle_

 **theturtle:** _nobody who degrades me so can have the title of bae_

 **foxy~mama:** _well if ur so salty then jus change it_

 **cat~son:** _If we can change then I'm picking something more suitable_

 **foxy~mama:** _wait nO URS IS COOL_

 **foxy~mama:** _cool cat_

 **lil~bug:** _You're the only one with a mildly acceptable name Alya_

 **busy~bee:** _what about foxy mama is acceptable_

 **lil~bug:** _hush chloe now I need to change mines too_

 **theturtle** is now **ReptilianGod**.

 **busy~bee:** _cringing will give me wrinkles_

 **ReptilianGod:** _then dont cringe problem solved_

 **cat~son** is now **ChatwithChat**

 **busy~bee:** _d_

 **lil~bug** is now **DontBugMe**

 **busy~bee:** _what is wrong with everyone?!_

 **DontBugMe:** _ReptilianGod ? oh my gosh.. XD_

 **ReptilianGod:** _feeling blessed by the reptilian god ic?:)_

 **ChatwithChat:** _My faith in you guys has been restored 10/10_

 **foxy~mama:** _when did u lose faith in us ?!_

 **busy~bee:** _i didn't lose it alya ;)_

 **foxy~mama:** _omg r u actually_

 **busy~bee:** _never had it in the first place_

 **foxy~mama:** _being nice omg_

 **foxy~mama:** _oh_

 **DontBugMe** _: Next time maybe_

 **busy~bee:** _no_

 **ChatwithChat:** _I notice you have one to three word answers a lot bee_

 **busy~bee:** _shut up Adrien_

 **ReptilianGod:** _there she goes again_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Do you guys wanna go to a movie? Nothing to do today_

 **DontBugMe** _: I'm down_

 **foxy~mama:** _course you are mari ;-) always r for him_

 **DontBugMe** _: Alya don' e_

 **foxy~mama** _: ok luv xoxo im also coming. finally don't need to babysit these little angels_

 **ReptilianGod** _: u better not pick a rom com dude_

 **ChatwithChat** _: Since WHEN do I pick rom coms?!_

 **ReptilianGod** _: i have video evidence_

 **DontBugMe** _: Pssst Nino send it_

 **ChatwithChat:** _NINO NO_

 **ReptilianGod:** _private chat Mari_

 **ChatwithChat:** _IF YOU LOVE ME YOU WON'T_

 **foxy~mama** _: wheres chloe gone she's been awfully quiet ! ! !_

 **busy~bee:** _im not coming so don't freak out_

 **foxy~mama:** _yeah no your coming we'll pick u up and errything_

 **busy~bee:** _do I want to be seen in public with embarrassing individuals?_

 **ReptilianGod:** _a blogger, designer, DJ, and freaking model who r secretly superheroes? Hell yeah_

 **ChatwithChat:** _bro_

 **ReptilianGod:** _bro_

 **DontBugMe:** _Hurry Chloe make your decision before the bromance escalates_

 **ChatwithChat:** _only room for romance in my heart is for u my lady ;)_

 **DontBugMe:** _I said bromance kitty :)_

 **foxy~mama:** _d_

 **ChatwithChat:** _;(_

 **foxy~mama:** _ok chloe u coming? yeah? Cool ok we all meet up at her hotel in 10_

 **busy~bee:** _not in front of the hotel_

 **ChatwithChat:** _be there in 10_

 **ChatwithChat** has gone offline.

 **ReptilianGod:** _see yall there_

 **ReptilianGod** has gone offline.

 **DontBugMe:** _K see u guys_

 **DontBugMe** has gone offline.

 **foxy~mama:** _c u ;)_

 **busy~bee:** _you little ffOX_

 **foxy~mama:** _whoaaaa thought things were gonna escalate quickly there !_

 **busy~bee** has gone offline.

 **foxy~mama:** _n o boo don't ignore me ! ! !_

 **foxy~mama** has gone offline.

:Sunday, April 23, 2:41 PM:

 **ChatwithChat** is now online.

 **DontBugMe** is now online.

 **ChatwithChat:** _Tbh rather would have seen a rom com_

 **DontBugMe:** _American comedies sure are raunchy…_

 **ChatwithChat:** _What_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Ohhh just thought it said ranchy_

 **ChatwithChat:** _I'd like some ranch now with a salad… that sounds good_

 **DontBugMe:** _You like salad_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Yes.._

 **DontBugMe:** _You like SALAD?!_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Uhh_

 **DontBugMe:** _THAT'S IT I am coming over right now and DO NOT TRY TO RUN_

 **Don'tBugMe** is now offline.

 **ChatwithChat:** _how is that supposed to make me not want to run …!_

 **ReptilianGod** is now online.

 **ReptilianGod:** _my doods_

 **foxy~mama** is now online.

 **foxy~mama:** _my dood ;-)_

 **foxy~mama:** _wait mari no not my son !_

 **foxy~mama:** _we're cute animal ear buddies!_

 **ChatwithChat:** _She's right_

 **ChatwithChat:** _I'm too cute to die_

 **foxy~mama:** _na just need u there for the aesthetic_

 **ChatwithChat:** _;(_

 **ReptilianGod:** _its ok man im here for u_

 **ChatwithChat:** _bro_

 **ReptilianGod:** _bro_

 **ChatwithChat:** _XRAPOIHFLLDh_

 **ReptilianGod:** _uh_

 **ChatwithChat:** _MARI_

 **ChatwithChat:** _AS LASYBUF_

 **ChatwithChat:** _BREAKGN IN WTH_

 **ChatwithChat** is now offline.

 **ReptilianGod:** _BRO_

 **ReptilianGod:** _DON'T LEAVE ME_

 **foxy~mama:** _rip_

 **busy~bee** is now online.

 **busy~bee:** _lbr they're disgusting enough to just be making out right about now_

 **ReptilianGod:** _di need that image rn thanks tho chloe_

 **busy~bee:** _np:)_

Sunday, April 23, 8:49 PM

 **ChatwithChat** is now online.

 **ChatwithChat:** _News update_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Mari came and gave me sweets_ _二二二（ ＾_ _ω_ _＾）二_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Life is so good (´_ _；_ _ω_ _；_ _`)_

 **ChatwithChat:** _K gn my docile friends_

2:01 AM

 **foxy~mama:** _daaaaw Adrien got some loveee so coot_

7:12 AM

 **ReptilianGod:** _alya what were you doing up at 2…_

 **foxy~mama** is now online.

 **foxy~mama:** _get ready for school young grasshopper (`_ _･_ _ω_ _･_ _)_

 **A/N: Idk I just thought it would be fun? If you guys liked please leave a review so I can know :3 also I added some** _ **kaomojis**_ **in there but I dunno if they showed up in fanfiction… oh well**


	37. Hubba Bubble- Terror Series Group Chat

**wow! you guys liked the texting as much as I did?! XD**

 **it was a pain in the butt writing all the usernames so I thought the chapter would be long but I read over and it was quite short despite being over 1000 words so I will write more**

 **also the kaomojis showed up (** **ﾟヮﾟ** **) but several texts where the letters were separated didn't show up. for example:**

 **(honest to God have no idea if that showed up but if it did u get my drift)**

 **ANYWAYS! Im talking a lot sorry but I read the reviews and whenever I get a batch of reviews in my inbox it always leaves one dude/dudette out! IDK Y! So I read reviews back till October and a lovely guest offered the idea of biting into hubba bubble bubblegum tape for the TERROR SERRIIIEESSS (AAAAHHH)! So I will incorporate that into texting;… somehow!**

 **~In which Hubba Bubble makes its presence known, some people don't care, cereal makes its comeback, and Nino consecutively roasts Chloe ~**

Underlined: edits made to the chat

 **Bolded: Usernames/ group chat names**

 _Italics: Speech_

NOTE: This is post reveal. Nino is the turtle boi. Superhero squads! Also has some minor cuss words? Not really

…

Saturday, May 6, 4:46 PM

 **Superhero Squad (^_-)**

 **ReptilianGod** is now online.

 **DontBugMe** is now online.

 **ReptilianGod:** _ayeee Mari_

 **DontBugMe:** _Hi Nino :D_

 **ReptilianGod:** _do u know where alyas at?_

 **ReptilianGod:** _after the fight earlier 2day I split off w her to detransform but we ran into this dude_

 **ReptilianGod:** _he was totally cool and all but alya got freaked out after he chewed some gum or smth_

 **DontBugMe:** _Huh… that's a bit weird.._

 **ReptilianGod:** _i'll see if I can meet up w her later on_

 **foxy~mama** is now online.

 **DontBugMe:** _Speak of the devil!_

 **foxy~mama:** _is that ur way of calling me a devil_

 **ReptilianGod:** _alya! r u good?_

 **foxy~mama:** _wht?_

 **ReptilianGod:** _after the fight u freaked and ran off_

 **foxy~mama:** _OMG_

 **foxy~mama:** _DON'T REMIND ME_

 **DontBugMe:** _Alya fr what happened ?_

 **busy~bee** is now online.

 **busy~bee:** _you guys looooove spamming my phone don't u_

 **ReptilianGod:** _sssSHHH alyas about to exploit_

 **busy~bee:** _don't shush me! dumb tortoise_

 **ReptilianGod:** _I AM A TURTLE FYI_

 **DontBugMe:** _K SHADDUP_

 **busy~bee:** _geez bug calm your spots_

 **ChatwithChat** is now online.

 **ChatwithChat:** _I'm also curious now_

 **ReptilianGod:** _hey the whole squads here u can tell us what freaked u out now_

 **busy~bee:** _oh so that's what this is abt …_

 **DontBugMe:** _（_ ___ _ゝ_ _）_

 **ChatwithChat:** _OK AY just tell us rn before things escalate_

 **foxy~mama:** _k fine… u def wont like it tho just a warning (ΘεΘ;)_

 **busy~bee:** _just get on with it fox would u_

 **foxy~mama:** _ok so nino and I were heading back_

 **foxy~mama:** _to detransform then we ran into this kid_

 **ReptilianGod:** _yea? then?_

 **foxy~mama:** _ssssHHH LET ME FINISHhh_

 **ChatwithChat:** _(_ _￣ー￣_ _)_

 **ReptilianGod:** _sORYY SORRY_

 **foxy~mama:** _the kid was nice but then he took out a pack of gum_

 **foxy~mama:** _the American hubba whatever gum_

 **foxy~mama:** _the one that comes in a tape and_

 **foxy~mama:** _he_

 **DontBugMe:** _…_

 **busy~bee:** _he…_

 **ReptilianGod:** _hey als don't go offline on us.._

 **foxy~mama:** _HE BIT IT_

 **DontBugMe:** _!_

 **busy~bee:** _um_

 **foxy~mama:** _UES HE FREAKIGN BIT THE GUM AND OFC NIMO DIDNT SEE HE WAAS LOOKGN THE OHTER WAY BUT I DID OMFOG_

 **DontBugMe:** _ALYA I AM SO SORRY_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Uh, isn't this sort of an overreaction_

 **foxy~mama:** _excuse me what_

 **busy~bee:** _im agreeing w him for once, its literally just gum_

 **busy~bee:** _u are so dramatic_

 **ReptilianGod:** _ok chloe now that's hilariously hypocritical_

 **ReptilianGod:** _but I sorta get where shes coming from its just gum_

 **DontBugMe:** _DID U NOT READ THE PART WHERE SHE SAYS HE BITES INTO THE TAPE..!_

 **ChatwithChat:** _But it ends up the same in the end anyways?_

 **DontBugMe:** _That's far beside the point! Who bites into gum tape?!_

 **ChatwithChat:** _People do things their own way ig_

 **ChatwithChat:** _For example some people pour milk first then add cereal ┐('_ _；_ _)┌_

 **DontBugMe:** _THE PEOPELE WHO KNOAW HOWQ TO EAT CEREAL DO IT LIEK THAT !_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Lets see; NO_

 **busy~bee:** _are we missing something here?_

 **foxy~mama:** _idk…?_

 **ReptilianGod:** _is this like aggressive flirting_

 **DontBugMe:** _ALYA_

 **foxy~mama:** _hoyl crap yes MAAM_

 **DontBugMe:** _U POUR MILK FIRST OR CEREAL?_

 **foxy~mama:** _Uhh tbh… I pour the cereal first.._

 **DontBugMe:** _WTH_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Would you look at that !_

 **foxy~mama:** _SRRY IT JUST STAYS CRISPIER THT WAY_

 **DontBugMe:** _NINO!_

 **ReptilianGod:** _I've prepared this answer in advance to say I don't give a crap which one I put first_

 **DontBugMe:** _CHLOE_

 **busy~bee:** _I don't eat cereal_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Curious, curious indeed huh_

 **DontBugMe:** _These guys don't count !_

 **busy~bee:** _excuse ME?!_

 **ReptilianGod:** _ok Chloe u had no opinion but yeah EXCUZE ME?_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Lets be real if we look at the buoyancy and soaking rates and whatnot it would be obvious that pouring in the cereal first allows the food to stay more enjoyable_

 **DontBugMe:** _Don't get all physicsy on me (_ ಠ _益_ ಠ _)_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Just saying ┐(´_ _ー_ _`)┌_

 **DontBugMe:** _FIGHT ME_

 **foxy~mama:** _cHILL U OLD MARRIED COUPLE_

 **ChatwithChat:** _I STAND BY THE TRUTH_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Cereal first is the real way_

 **DontBugMe:** _No more cookies for u_ _ヽ_ _(_ _ｏ_ _皿′ｏ_ _)_ _ﾉ_

 **ChatwithChat:** _wiat NOO_

 **busy~bee:** _nino you can say anything you want_

 **busy~bee:** _but nobody is as dramatic as these two_

 **busy~bee:** _they belong in a soap opera_

 **ReptilianGod:** _u said something right for once_

 **busy~bee:** _what was that TORTOISE (_ ಠ _益_ ಠ _)_

 **foxy~mama:** _our little bee's first kaomoji ;O_

 **foxy~mama:** _they grow up so fast (_ _ロ_ _)_

 **busy~bee:** _I lose brain cells talking to you guys_

 **ReptilianGod:** _not sure u had any to begin with_

 **busy~bee:** _is this for pushing u off of that roof_

 **busy~bee:** _cause u have a shell so I bet it didn't even hurt_

 **ReptilianGod:** _I just like annoying u since u make it so easy_

 **ReptilianGod:** _but now that u gave me a reason_ _ヽ_ _(_ _ｏ_ _皿′ｏ_ _)_ _ﾉ_

 **foxy~mama:** _oml everyones fighting like old married couples_

 **ReptilianGod:** _na if I marry anyone it'll be u ;-)_

 **foxy~mama:** _aw :)_

 **busy~bee:** _ewe w ewe w ew_

 **foxy~mama:** _whaaaat just cus ur single_

 **busy~bee:** _im single by CHOICE_

 **busy~bee:** _queen bees r independent_

 **ReptilianGod:** _yo mari? adrien? u been quiet for some time now…_

 **DontBugMe:** _U know what I realize_

 **DontBugMe:** _At least nobody eats Hawkmoth's way_

 **ChatwithChat:** _don't remind me_ _（_ _´,__ _ゝ_ _`)_

 **DontBugMe:** _sorry :/ also for being extremely pissed_

 **DontBugMe:** _some people will never eat cereal correctly I suppose_

 **ChatwithChat:** _I thought you were making amends -_-_

 **DontBugMe:** _XD_

 **busy~bee:** _sorry for intruding on your flirting_

 **foxy~mama:** _no ur not_

 **busy~bee:** _but_ _whats hawkmoth's way?_

 **ChatwithChat:** _ehh… ;_;_

 **DontBugMe:** _he sort of pours them in both at once…_

 **foxy~mama:** _kill me now_

 **ReptilianGod:** _can our graves be next to each other_

 **foxy~mama:** _daaaaaw ;-)_

 **busy~bee:** _do you absolutely need to flirt here -_-_

 **foxy~mama:** _yep_

 **ChatwithChat:** _For your viewing pleasure_

 **busy~bee:** _omg NO._

 **DontBugMe:** _Yeeaahh… me and kitty here stumbled upon the bowl on the roof a few weeks later.._

 **ChatwithChat:** _It was all moldy and the cereal was like a sludge_ _（_ _´-`_ _）_

 **ReptilianGod:** _bro did not need that detail_

 **foxy~mama:** _that sounds horrifyingly disgusting_

 **busy~bee:** _i'm officially never eating cereal_

 **ReptilianGod:** _good the less joys for you the better_

 **busy~bee:** _you get harsher but sound dumber tortoise_

 **ReptilianGod:** _you sound dumber every time you say tortoise instead of TURTLE (_ ಠ _益_ ಠ _)_

 **ChatwithChat:** _I feel like I'm in a warzone_

 **DontBugMe:** _She pushed him off of a roof; they may as well have started a war_

 **foxy~mama:** _is this their new official hate relationship cus its goin on the blog_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Why do you still uphold the Ladyblog?_

 **foxy~mama:** _IT IS MY CHILD. Besides now I have better footage and news .. conveniently ;-)_

 **busy~bee:** _well I'll be going, I need to eat_

 **DontBugMe:** _come over later for dessert :P_

 **busy~bee:** _..really?_

 **busy~bee:** _I mean, yeah whatever_

 **busy~bee:** _but_ _please do uphold your flirting somewhere else -_-_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Nah, my affections for Milady are unguarded :3_

 **busy~bee** is now offline.

 **DontBugMe:** _Don't know what to say to that_

 **foxy~mama:** _aaaawwww finally accepting his flirting ;o This is going on the blog_

 **foxy~mama:** _LadyNoir fans are gonna love it :-)_

 **ReptilianGod:** _Lady Noir? Isn't that a cookie…_

 **foxy~mama:** _yes ;-) just as sweet as the ship_

 **foxy~mama:** _speaking of, im supposed to treat my "little angels".. -_-_

 **foxy~mama:** _im coming over to urs mari_

 **ReptilianGod:** _same here im hungry ;o;_

 **ReptilianGod** is now offline.

 **DontBugMe:** _Sure guys, I love seeing your sisters anyways Alya :D_

 **foxy~mama:** _gah u ray of sunshine ur truly a match for adrien_

 **DontBugMe:** _ALYA_

 **foxy~mama** is now offline.

 **ChatwithChat:** _Truly a match huh ;-)_

 **DontBugMe:** _Well we are ladybug and black cat :P_

 **ChatwithChat:** _Come on don't deny it ;-) my charming personality has won you over_

 **DontBugMe:** _Just come over, would u? My parents would like to see you again XD_

 **ChatwithChat:** _:O! For Tom and Sabine ANYTHING!_

 **ChatwithChat** is now offline.

 **DontBugMe:** _silly chaton…_

 **DontBugMe** is now offline.

 **A/N The cereal fic (Chapter 9) is by far my most popular.. it alone has over 40 reviews? XD That's just so funny for some reason**

 **I really liked this texting so I updated again quickly :P PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS they totally make my day lol**


	38. Fallen

**Yaknow,, its been a long time since we had some tasty angst right? I think I've only had 1 angst chapter so here :P**

 **ALSO, FANFICTION HAS BEEN GLITCHY and I can't see recent reviews, it sucks :( but leave em anyways cause I get the email and it makes me happy regardless!  
**

**~falling comes in many forms~**

Some people fall in love. Some people fall down. Some people fall apart.

Some people do all three at once.

Adrien doesn't just fall; no, he fell in love with Ladybug, heroine of Paris but more importantly his partner. And in quite the grandiose way, too, even if it wasn't completely romantic or cliché. He fell from the Eiffel Tower and experienced the wind whistling in his ears, ruffling his hair back, allowing his heart to soar free in the sky.

He fell apart at home, with a missing mother, a withdrawn father, and high walls made of the finest material available caging him in. But right when he'd been about to really fall, and reach the bottom of the pit, a red-and-black spotted hand pulled him right up and showed him what everyone else was seeing- happiness and freedom.

How that same hand could push him back into the pit, he'd never know. Literally.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

The day usually started off with him waking up, going to school (making sure Plagg was with him), meeting his friends, his after-school activities (which also included saving Paris with Ladybug), some free time with his friends if he was lucky, and heading home to finish his work and go to sleep. But that day, even though nothing had really happened, there was an odd, foreboding sense in the thick air and cloudy sky.

And Marinette was absent.

Late, sure, but absent was odd. Not to mention the fight that had happened the not-so-ordinary day prior that kept weighing on his mind, giving everything an odd, twisted outlook. He wasn't very sure what happened, but the akumatized villain had him knocked out one moment as he leapt in front of Ladybug, and when he had woken up, everything was fine and dandy. But Ladybug was nowhere to be seen. He didn't even have time to ask around due to the constant beeping of his ring reminding him of his limited time. Her disappearance worried him more than he'd like to admit.

When he asked Alya about Marinette's absence in class, she blankly stared at him for a second before regaining her composure and blinking. "Oh! Marinette, I suppose, she's sick maybe. There's this virus going around." Alya rubbed her head. "Wow. I don't know what just happened but my mind just blanked…"

Nino turned around in his seat and worriedly frowned. "Are you okay, Alya?"

Alya shook her head yes. "Yeah, I'm fine! That was just… weird. Oh well. I'll go visit the bakery and ask about Marinette after school."

Adrien also would have gone, had it not been for his packed schedule weighing him down and making him forget about the small ordeal. It wasn't until one week later, with Marinette's absence still, that Adrien finally gave in to his worry for the shy girl and asked Alya about her before class started.

This time she just furrowed her eyebrows. "Mari-who? Adrien, you feeling okay?"

Adrien gaped in bewilderment. "Uhh… are _you_ okay? Marinette? Your best friend?" When Alya still did not respond, Adrien wringed his hands together. "You always hang out! Her parents own the bakery right next to the school!"

Alya frowned. "Mr. and Mrs. Dupain Cheng? They don't have any children."

Adrien's mind and body suddenly ran cold. Something was definitely not right.

Nino walked in at that time and noticed his two friends talking. "Yo, what's up?"

Alya turned to him. "Adrien is being weird and talking about some girl… I think he's feeling sick."

" _Nino!"_ Adrien strode forward and desperately grabbed his best friend by the shoulders, staring into his eyes, making the tanned boy slightly uncomfortable. "You remember, right? Marinette?"

Nino balked. "Uhh… Alya is right, maybe you should go home and rest."

Adrien paled and his fingers on Nino's shoulders slightly trembled. "Wait, hold on." He fumbled in his jean pocket for his phone and unlocked it, opening up the Photos app and scrolling with a shaking thumb to a few months back. The whole class, save for Chloe and Sabrina, had taken photos together in the park. Of course he had them saved to his phone, and backed up. They were precious memories, and he knew Marinette was in them- it was _her_ idea.

Finally the first picture of the batch showed up and he tapped it frantically, impatient for it to load. Surely Nino and Alya were just both experiencing bouts of bad memory, or pulling a bad prank on him. Marinette _did_ exist, she was in this photo, she… she-

-she was nothing more than an empty space next to a smiling Adrien in the class photo.

Alya and Nino looked at the photo, then to a slack-jawed Adrien, and nodded to each other. Alya gently pried his phone out of his hands while Nino put an arm around his shoulders. It all felt wrong.

How could he be smiling in that photo? _Where was Marinette?_ He had a sick feeling in his stomach that the answer would also be the solution to the complex equation of Ladybug's disappearance.

"Madame," Nino called out as their teacher walked in. The woman turned to inquiringly look at Nino. "Adrien, he's not feeling good. He's gone pale and keeps saying weird things. Can I help him to the nurse's office?"

The teacher took a look at Adrien. While it could be a farce, like many students would try to do to get out of class, Adrien wasn't that kind of kid. He was studious and seemed to enjoy his classes. She nodded and wrote down a slip for Adrien, who was still blankly staring off under Nino's arm.

"Be sure to get back to class," The teacher warned, as she was aware that there were many things Nino would rather do than study. The boy in question chuckled sheepishly and took the slip before leading Adrien out of the classroom.

"It'll be fine, man. A bit of rest and you'll be back, good as new. I hear sometimes people get false memories…" Nino talked on to fill the empty silence while Adrien, unaware that he was walking up until this point, suddenly stopped. Nino stopped talking and looked back at him curiously. "Dude? We're almost there…"

"Nino," Adrien began, his voice hoarse. "Are there superheroes in Paris?"

Nino's lips tugged down in a slight frown of concern, but he complied anyways. "Err- you might mean super _hero?_ There's only Chat Noir."

 _No. No. No way._ "B-But," Adrien weakly protested, "how can- how do I- er, he, how does Chat Noir purify the akumas?"

Nino lifted his hat and scratched his head. "He doesn't. He kills the butterflies."

 _Kills._ If Adrien was cold before, now he was frigid. How Plagg wasn't trembling from the chill in his pocket, he wasn't sure. "D-Doesn't Alya have a blog…?"

Nino was really concerned now. "Err, yeah, dude. The _Blog on Noir_." Nino stepped forward and tried looking into Adrien's eyes. "Look, how about we go to the nurse's office now, yeah? You aren't feeling oka-"

Nino cut off with a shout of surprise when Adrien stepped around him, stumbled a bit, and sprinted. He sprinted as fast as he could, and by the time Nino could even think of trying to follow him, he was down the stairs to the school and across the street. Adrien didn't stop running until he was in front of Paris' best boulangerie. Their logo was not the same as before.

Adrien heaved for his breath next to the wall of the bakery, whose goods smelled slightly different than before. He opened his pocket and let Plagg out. If anyone could know what was going on, it had to be Plagg.

"Plagg," Adrien panted, looking to the kwami with anguish. The kwami was looking down at the ground. "Plagg, you have to know, right? You- you're an all knowing, super being, right? What's going on?"

Finally Plagg looked into his eyes. They were the same green eyes yet at the same time very, very different.

"Are you sure you want to hear this, kid?"

"Just tell me!" Adrien raised his voice a little louder, before apologetically glancing down at his worn orange shoes. His chest still heaved to supply his lungs with oxygen.

After a bit of hesitation, Plagg complied. "Remember yesterday, when you were fighting that akuma with Ladybug?" Adrien simply nodded, not trusting in himself to speak. "Well… you did what you always do, and jumped in front of Ladybug and…"

Plagg trailed off while Adrien drummed his fingers against the wall at his back in impatience. "And what?"

"Damn," Plagg said under his breath. "Look… heroes don't live forever either."

Adrien suddenly felt his knees buckle beneath him. The world spun for a few moments before he found himself sitting on the dirty ground behind the bakery. "No," Adrien croaked, his neck now craning back to look at Plagg. "Don't tell me… she…" _Ladybug. Marinette._

"No," Plagg said, uncharacteristically gentle. He was surprised before being surprised even more with the next statement. "It was you."

"M-… Me?" Adrien echoed, pointing a finger to himself. Plagg, floating above his head, grimly looked away. "Yeah. And Ladybug… she sort of, flipped out. Pulled one too many strings." Plagg looked up at the cloudy sky. "Lucky Charm can restore everything, but death has its hold over everything and more. You… she…" Plagg sucked in a breath. His antennae were dropping, paws crossed across his torso. "She used a dark magic to bring you back… I don't know how she even knew to use the spell. I suspect, it was after she went a bit berserk, since extreme negativity in a Miraculous suit does weird things to someone's mind. Like Hawkmoth." Plagg shook his head. "She brought you back, and… well… every action has its equal opposite reaction."

Plagg looked at Adrien's face to see his reaction. He was startled to see tears leaking out of his eyes. But it wasn't the tears that startled him; it was the eyes that cried them. Tears were a sign of emotion in its rawest form. Adrien's eyes were emotionless.

"Kid…"

Adrien stiffly got up, leaning onto the wall for support, before walking his way out from behind the bakery. Plagg didn't have time to do anything but duck back into his pocket and worriedly listen in next to Adrien's consecutive heartbeat.

Mr. and Mrs. Dupain Cheng looked up from their duties when the bell above the door jingled, alerting a new customer. The bakery, which usually had a morning rush of workers getting their breakfast, and an afternoon rush of students who just came out of school, was empty seeing as it was in between those times. Seeing a blond head (oddly looking at the ground instead of up with a cheery smile) and toned figure, they both smiled. "Adrien!" Sabine began, walking out from behind the counter. She gasped, however, when Adrien looked up at his name. His eyes, devoid of any life they might have held, were flowing with tears dripping down his face.

"Oh, my!" Sabine rushed over to him and began wiping his tears away with her thumbs. Tom came out from behind the counter as well and kneeled before the teenage boy, concern clearly reflecting in his eyes. "Adrien, what's wrong?"

More tears flowed down his damp cheeks, though he didn't notice. "Is… is Marinette here?"

Sabine and Tom worriedly looked at each other before they looked back at Adrien. "Would you like to rest? You aren't feeling good…"

Adrien sharply pulled back from their gentle tugs . "No, it- it's not me! Why can't you remember your own daughter?!" Adrien gritted his teeth and pulled on his hair. "Get me out of this nightmare! Wake up, please!"

Tom set his big hands on Adrien's shoulders. "Adrien… we don't have any children… but you are like a son to us. You're worrying us, here…"

Adrien's eyes drooped in exhaustion. "I'm not your child. Marinette is. I need to wake up…"

With that, he fell unconscious.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Adrien blearily opened his eyes to find himself in an unfamiliar surrounding. A trapdoor was above him, and when he lifted a sore arm to prop his even sorer body up on the bed, it was revealed that he was on a loft bed. Other than the bed, the room was barren and empty. The walls were brown and a few boxes were stacked in a corner.

"Plagg…?" Adrien said with a slight slur. He couldn't remember a single thing that happened. Normally he would be suspicious waking up in an unfamiliar place, like any normal person of course, but he could smell the familiar bakery scent wafting in through another trapdoor below on the ground. What was he doing in the Dupain Cheng's spare room?

Plagg floated out from his pocket and eyed him oddly. He hadn't been asleep, unlike Adrien. "Hey, kid… how are you feeling?"

Adrien confusedly looked at him and ran a hand through his bedhead, each muscle protesting the simple movement. "My muscles feel really sore… and my eyes feel sort of puffy." Adrien noticed his legs tangled in the thin sheets on the bed. "Why am I at the Dupain Cheng's…?"

Plagg's odd look seemed to get even odder, if possible. "What do you remember about yesterday?"

Adrien frowned, trying to recall the prior day. All he came up with were muddled memories of going to school. Nothing after was clear enough. "Uh… I went to school… then I came sick? But how did I get here?"

Instead of answering his question, Plagg dipped his head before asking another of his own. "Adrien, does anything come to mind when I say… Marinette Dupain Cheng?"

Silence.

"Ladybug?"

A few more beats of silence and…

"Who are they?"

 **A/N: ja**


	39. Snowball Fight

**sorry about last chapter XD it seems lots of people got devastated by that, lol. but writing angst is so fun! I should do it more … ;-)**

 **but anyways a lovely reviewer suggested Chat!Marinette and that struck some ideas in me so, why not?**

 **(also Ramadan Mubarak ! to any Muslim readers!)**

 **~Reverse crush, reverse miraculous AU in which Félin Noir and Adrien get into a big fight {NOTE IN CASE OF CONFUSION: Marinette likes Red Beetle who is Adrien. Adrien likes Marinette who is Félin Noir.}~**

It was one of those winter days, the type that pretty much begged to be painted onto a canvas to be preserved. Rooftops and the ground were covered in a sheen, glittering layer of snow, the air was crisp and fresh but not numbing, warm lights were switched on inside of every building that casted a glow around, and public places bustled with smiling people and squealing children. It was as perfect as could be.

And, with the notion of this ideal weather in mind, both Marinette- as Félin Noir- and Adrien set out, intent on enjoying the cheerful atmosphere.

Félin Noir leaped and jumped over rooftops, relishing every little gasp or squeal her sensitive ears could pick up of a civilian noticing her presence. It wasn't often that Félin Noir could be seen outside of fights, since she had many things to deal with in her civilian life as Marinette alone, but when she was sighted people made sure to try and snap a picture. This was also the case with Red Beetle. Both heroes were scarcely seen around the city, but they obviously cared for all the citizens through the acts of defeating akumas and helping out in charity events.

Félin Noir finally settled on a lamppost with the grace of a cat and sighed, watching her breath puff into a cloud and dissipate. Her luminous blue eyes took in every little detail of the scenario around her, tail swishing happily. Her creative senses were tingling; it'd been a long time since she'd been inspired.

"Man, I should have brought my sketchbook," Félin Noir sighed again. _Or,_ a part of her brain thought, _you should have asked Red Beetle to come._

Félin Noir sighed yet again at the thought of her partner, though this time it was dreamily. Her heroic, brave, kind, strong, compassionate, and not to mention super good looking partner…

"Thinking of someone special?"

"ACK!" Félin Noir jumped a little, then scrambled to keep her balance on the slick lamppost. Her claws scratched the metal as she dug them in to regain her balance and she glared down at the offender. An amused teenage boy with blonde hair and green eyes, wrapped up in winter's clothing and a blue scarf, looked up at her.

"Adrien," she snapped half-heartedly. "Everyone knows that cats are skittish!"

"Which is why I thought it would be funny to see you," he snickered lightly. "But I didn't know cats were super love struck, too…"

Félin Noir could feel her face heating up. "A-Am not! I-I'm just happy, that's all! The weather is nice."

Adrien smirked. "Whatever makes you happy."

He turned to watch a bunch of kids build a snowman in the park, smiling softly. That sure did seem like a lot more fun than being inside your room all day, no matter how many video games and expensive recreational things you had.

Adrien started when a bunch of snow suddenly hit the back of his head with a cold _thump_ , trickling into his hair and making his locks slightly damp. He slowly turned around to see Félin Noir innocently looking away, blinking those catlike eyes and whistling. "Karma," she said in a sing-song voice.

"You've done it now," Adrien said in mock-threat, stooping over to pick up a handful of snow and sling it at her. Despite his good aim and throw, Félin Noir easily dodged it with her catlike tendencies and landed on the snow covered ground with barely any snow crunching beneath her boots. She smirked. "You're on!"

The next few minutes were all but a war, snow whizzing past the two teenagers' faces by millimeters and scrambling around, trying to see who could hit the other first. As it was right now, neither had been hit yet, and both were equally as stubborn.

"You…" Félin Noir panted lightly, a few yards away from Adrien in their "face-off" circle. "You… aren't half bad."

Adrien simply nodded, not trusting in himself to speak and lose more of his breath. He scooped up more snow and tossed it at her, watching with an inkling of frustration as she seamlessly dodged again. _Damn, I just need to get her back!_

That was when a loud squeal suddenly made itself heard. Félin Noir and Adrien both whipped around in alarm, only to see a child who looked to be about 7 or 8 pointing at them with a huge grin on their face.

"It's Félin Noir! And Adrien Agreste! HAVING A SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

A bunch of the other kids who were previously working on the snowman abandoned the job and instead turned towards where Félin Noir and Adrien were, gasping in delight.

All at once, the kids rushed forward. "I'm on Félin Noir's side!"

"I'm on Adrien's side!"

"Me too!"

Adrien suddenly found himself surrounded by kids, grinning at the other side where there were children around Félin Noir. He shared a glance with an equally as dumbstruck Félin Noir and smiled competitively.

"Alright guys!" Adrien said as if he were offering a pep-talk. The children sucked it all up, gazing at him with large and determined eyes. He toothily smiled and kneeled down, beckoning them closer. "Listen, we need to beat Félin Noir at all costs! It is mandatory!"

"Manna-what?"

"Er- we gotta do it, for victory!"

"YEAH!" The kids cheered and immediately started scooping up balls of snow in their small hands, flinging them to the other side where Félin Noir was still whispering to her group of kids. She noticed the incoming attack and instantly swung her baton out, spinning it as a shield. Many of the kids' jaws dropped open in awe.

"Hey!" Félin Noir cheekily grinned at Adrien. "No cheating! But anyways… " She ignored Adrien's spluttering of how using her magic baton was also cheating and sent a signal to her group of kids.

"THIS IS WAR!" The shout rang out through the small clearing. The kids all ran at each other, throwing snowballs and shrieking with laughter. The next twenty minutes showed Félin Noir and Adrien valiantly battling with their soldiers towards victory. All for one, one for all!

(It ended in a tie.)

 **A/N:** fluffy enough to compensate for last time? ;-))))))


	40. Studies, Studs, & Noodles on Fire

**OH MY GOSH THUNDER..!**

 **no wait, that's just my stomach growling. the things fasting does to you..**

 **this was a request I got a REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY (2984999349 reallys later) long ago by Diana Huntress Pines. I keep requests in a notebook so I read the page and was like OH INSPIRATION !**

 **anyways .. yeah ;-P friendship feels here** _ **. Marinette isn't all trippy-tongued with Adrien**_ **so lets just say they're super close now.**

 **~How can someone be so bad at cooking that they can't even make noodles?!~**

Alya had been standing for a long time in front of the counter with her fists planted on her hips. A frown was on her face as she was deep in thought. She would occasionally tap her lip, but she was in such deep thought that not even her phone was pulled out once in the whole six minutes she had been standing there. All of a sudden, she gasped. A breakthrough was about to happen.

"Marinette," she called out to her friend in the living room. "I'm hungry."

"You stood there all that time thinking about how hungry you were. Without doing anything." Marinette said, dumbfounded, as she walked over to Alya and gaped at her. Her friend in question shrugged.

"It's not like I _can_ do anything about it, so-"

"That's an exaggeration if any," Nino snorted, having followed Marinette through her living room into the kitchen . "Besides, the sad part is that it took her that long to figure out she was hungr-" At Alya's withering glare, he stopped. Adrien, being the only one who was actually getting any homework done, followed soon after.

"What's going on?" He asked as he situated himself around the island counter just like everyone else had.

"You're all so mean to me," Alya half-whined, then turned to Adrien. "Do you believe me when I say, _I know nothing about cooking?_ "

"Come _on,"_ Marinette interrupted. "Cooking is just chemistry but tastier. Heat this up a little, toss in a little bit of that, you're done."

"Yeah," Nino agreed. "It's like DJing. Mix things up a lil'."

"Say the two creative cats," Alya said in exasperation, missing Adrien's half-choke. "For normal people cooking isn't like that. Right, Adrien?"

"Uh," Adrien offered when all eyes were turned to him. "I mean… I'm probably worse than you are…"

"Bro!" Nino cried. "No way! I can sense how bad Alya is just by her current predica-YOWCH!"

Alya glared up at Nino after she slapped him upside the head. "You were saying?"

"N-Nothing…"

"It's not my fault," Adrien defended. "I've always wanted to cook and stuff, but my dad just doesn't let me… he says I've got a chef's diet, after all. And maybe after that one time…"

"What time?" Marinette asked. Adrien's face instantly heated up and he looked away. "Come on, tell us!"

"Yeah!" Nino and Alya added, leaning in to look at Adrien. Adrien peered back at them, face still red and slightly disgruntled. "I'm pretty sure this is peer pressure…"

"Now that you gave me the idea," Nino smirked. "Tell us or we'll shove your head down the toilet!"

" _And that's just bullying!"_

"Give the poor guy a break," Alya laughed. "He could've set the kitchen on fire for all we know." She looked over at Adrien and gaped when his face turned redder and he ducked his head. "WAIT, _SERIOUSLY?!"_

"I was twelve!" Adrien weakly brought up. "I just… there was sugar and, that stuff burns and… a little flame came. It was no big deal!"

"If a flame is ever involved in a cooking accident, it's probably a lot more than a big deal," Marinette mused, ignoring Adrien's indignant splutters.

"Figures Adrien would risk his life for some sweets," Nino added, earning a pained 'bro-you-abandoned-me' look from his best friend, which he would _not_ look at because damn it if Adrien's kitty eyes weren't nerve-wracking.

"Okay, I'm sold," Alya sighed. "I'm nowhere near as bad as Adrien-" Again his protests were ignored, when was a cat to be _loved?_ "-but that's not saying much. I still can't make anything."

"Not even _noodles?"_ Nino incredulously asked. Honestly, what was hard about that? Boil the pasta, put it in a pan and make it taste good with whatever spices and sauces you want.

"Not even ramen," Alya corrected. "I once tried to make some for my little sisters… it somehow didn't work out."

"You sure you're still worse than me, Alya?" Adrien teased.

"There was no fire involved," Alya promptly replied. "Therefore I'm still superior to you."

"Not for long," Marinette interrupted. She turned to one of the kitchen cabinets and went on her tip-toes to open it, pulling out a box of pasta. "We don't even have to make the dough- you all have it easy. I'll work you all like slaves until we get this perfect meal, understand?" Marinette turned her head back to them and everyone shivered in fear at the glint that was seen in her single visible eye.

"G-Got it, ma'am…" the three said in unison.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

"Chop thinner! Come on, what is this!" Marinette picked up a piece of cabbage that Alya was cutting and exaggeratedly held it up to her face. Marinette had currently taken on the role of 'demon head chef', although it was nothing more than an act for the teenagers' amusement. "YOU IDIOT SANDWICH! THINNER, THINNER!"

"GOT IT CHEF RAMSAY!" Alya shouted, chopping the cabbage faster but not any better than before. In fact, it only seemed to get worse. Marinette looked over at Adrien, who was cutting the onions, and sharply nodded her head. "You're doing good."

"GIRL! I thought we were besties!" Adrien laughed openly at Alya's dismay while his eyes watered from the onion. "You look like a nut case," Alya bluntly said to Adrien, to which he laughed harder.

Marinette snickered behind a hand, shaking her head . She then proceeded to march over to Nino, who was at the stove, stirring the boiled noodles in a saucepan.

"LAHIFFE!" Marinette yelled up in his ear. He yelped and jumped away from the stove, rubbing his ear and glaring at Marinette. "What the hell, Mari-"

"You will address me as chef," Marinette said with emphasized haughtiness that resembled Chloe. "I was testing your ability to stay focused in my arena. It is pitying."

"You yell in anybody's ear, they'll jump up," Nino grumbled, going back to the noodles. He stirred in some more soy sauce without measuring, although by the color of the noodles it seemed like the perfect amount. Marinette raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were this good, Nino."

" _You will address me as chef_ ," Nino mimicked with an even more snobbish tone. He snickered at Marinette's eyeroll. "I picked up the trade around the house. Mom always forces me to help so I don't become a lost case in college."

"I see," Marinette did the sharp head-nod thing again. _I should stop doing that before I get a headache._ "Good going, soldier!"

Checking the noodles, Marinette turned to her vegetable cutters. "Alright, guys! We're ready to put- uh. Alya. What are you doing."

Marinette and Nino turned to see Alya pulling at Adrien's cheeks while he protested, trying to tug her hands off in vain. His hair was mussed up and some sort of irritated speech was being muffled as his cheeks were being pulled.

Alya removed her hands from Adrien's face and examined her handiwork. She threw her hands up with a cry of frustration. "Shouldn't _I_ be the one doing that?!" Adrien cried out.

"No matter what you do, Adrien is _always_ photogenic," Alya told Marinette and Nino. "Look!"

It was true, Alya's pinching had just given his cheeks what looked like a natural rosy glow and his mussed up hair looked like a bedhead- not the literal ones, but the ones models were made to wear to look like the 'casual but fashionable' type. His eyes still glimmered from the onion-induced tears, and-

"What are you, a shoujo character?"

"It's not my fault!" Adrien exclaimed. "You're all just exaggerating, I look like any other person!"

"Says the model," all three of his friends deadpanned. Adrien groaned in exasperation before his eyes caught on something in the background and his face immediately changed- his eyes popped wide open and his jaw was hanging wide open.

"GUYS! THE NOODLES!"

Three things happened that day. Marinette and Nino, for the first time in their lives, had set a meal on fire. Adrien's face was finally seen in one not one hundred percent photogenic (but who are we kidding, he looked like the model he was anyways to some extent). And the physics homework remained undone by all four (usually, kind of- not really?) studious teenagers.

 **A/N: Idk what this is? I'm just thinking about food way too much. man I'm hungry**


	41. Pencil

**ok so… I was writing a chapter but I cant find it in my files. shit**

 **but anyways I got this idea yesterday, so, here! PLEASE REVIEWWWW it makes me happy (and I got like none last chapter demotivating me greatly *cri*)**

 **ALSO ITS NOW SUMMER WHOOOO YES IM DONE W MIDDLE SCHOOL WHATS GOOD! now I… im in high school…. shit**

 **~I'll lend you a pencil (AU)~**

To say that Marinette was tired was the understatement of the century. She _knew_ it was a bad idea to be designing late into the night, but- who was she to say no to the fabric that called out her name? Maybe she was being dramatic, but it was the same as using your phone in the dark while knowing it was bad for your eyes. _It couldn't hurt this one time!_

Well, it could. Especially if the next day was an extraordinarily _uneventful_ Tuesday in school, and you were learning things in Math like _imaginary numbers._ Who cared if they'd been treated unfairly? They were _numbers!_ Was knowing the square root of some deprived-of-love negative _necessary?_ Man, how she wished Alya- or, really, any of her other close friends- were in her math class. Maybe then things would brighten up a bit. They all had it during different periods. While she did sit next to Nathaniel from middle school, and he was really nice, he was also very shy and didn't speak to her much for some reason. She wasn't liking high school very much.

At the moment, though, Marinette just had to solve these problems, and she couldn't find it in her. She trudged up to the teacher's desk and mumbled out a request to go to the bathroom. Once she was approved, she trekked out the door and to the nearest bathroom. Did Marinette really need to go to the bathroom? Nope. She was hoping to set a five-minute alarm on her phone and maybe snooze on the toilets. Not that it'd do her any good except make her more tired, and maybe make her cry when she had to wake up, and make her _most likely miss class,_ but- who cared? Not her. Nu-uh.

Finally seeing the door to the girls' restroom a full two-minute walk away from her class, she pulled it open with minimal difficulty and stopped as she stepped inside. All the stalls were full. All. Every single one. Wait, were those four feet in one-

"Ugh, I don't have time for this!" Marinette hissed, irately stepping out of the bathroom. She didn't feel like walking all the way to another one, so she began her slouched-walk back to her class. Never again would she design late into the night. Never. She should take Alya's advice more and go to sleep early. Maybe also take Rose's tea more, too. It might have some sleep-inducing effects.

Seeing the open door of a classroom, Marinette walked in and sat down at her empty seat. For some reason, there was nothing on her desk. Huh. Didn't she leave all her supplies there? Did somebody steal it? Oh well. She could do without math worksheets. But she'd probably need a pencil.

In her sleepy haze, Marinette didn't stop to wonder why the class was so quiet, or why the back of the head of the kid who usually sat in front of her was now wearing a red hat instead of being red-haired. She also didn't notice the multiple stares directed on her, and instead turned her head to the right with half-lidded eyes, resting her cheek on her palm, ready to ask Nathaniel for a pencil. "Sorry, can I borrow a pen-…"

The green eyes were what snapped her out of it first, belonging to a blond kid who was staring at her.

"-cil…" Marinette blinked once. Those eyes most definitely did not belong to Nathaniel. Unless he wore contacts, and dyed his hair blonde, and somehow got tanner and changed his skull structure- yes, that most definitely _was not_ Nathaniel.

The not-Nathaniel was still staring at her. She realized she was staring back at him with her mouth open, hand no longer on cheek. Snapping her head towards the front of the room, she also saw the unfamiliar class instructor staring at her with a pen in their hand. On the board was written ' _Physics Key Ideas of the Day'._

Physics. She'd walked into the physics class right next to her Math one and sat in an empty seat and asked the (cute) kid next to her for a pencil and-

"S-Sorry," she squeaked with a red face, and, knowing it was futile but doing it anyways, she pulled up her red-and-black spotted hood and climbed out of the desk, bolting out of the classroom. Once she was out, she slid down against the wall and groaned quietly, covering her face with both of her hands. "I hate myself…" She pulled on the locks of hair hanging by her face and let loose a very unladylike groan/shriek/sigh, berating the horrible day gone wrong for her.

It was later on that she realized everyone in the class could see her through the window, and hear her through the open door.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

"SERIOUSLY?!" Alya burst out with laughter, causing Marinette to sink into her hood even farther with a sulking look on her face. "So, wait-" Alya wiped a tear from her eye, then rested both her elbows on the café table. Marinette thought that going to a nice coffee shop after school with Alya would help calm her frazzled- and embarrassed- nerves, but she was wrong, seeing as Alya loved laughing her butt off at Marinette's expense. The warm atmosphere and slight chatter of the small café that she usually loved did little to help her embarrassment. "-let me get this straight," Alya choked out. "You went into the bathroom to _sleep,_ couldn't, then walked into the wrong class and asked the kid next to you for a pencil. _Then_ you'd realized you messed up, ran out of there, and-" Alya snorted. "-instead of going back to class, you decided to sit there and- _scream,_ and everyone heard-"

Alya's speech turned into blubber as she laughed even harder, banging a fist on their usual table next to one of the large windows of the café. Marinette reddened further, not only from the embarrassment but from the curious glances they were receiving from other customers in the café. "Alya," Marinette hissed. "You're making a scene!"

"Me?!" Alya laughed. "Says the girl who _walked into the wrong class, asked-"_

"Okay, okay!" Marinette groaned, slumping on the table, disregarding her half-finished cappuccino. "I get it, I'm a total mess! This has to be one of the worst days _ever,"_ she dry-sobbed. Alya, still laughing but now giving Marinette the liberty of doing it behind one hand, patted the sulking girl's head. "It's okay, girl, we all have those days!" Alya reassured. "Remember that time I almost got sued for taking a picture of that guy's pigeons?"

Marinette peeked up, a smile twitching at her hidden lips. "Okay, he was a nutcase."

Alya winked. "It only happens to the best of us. But I'm still not letting you live it down, girl. Who was the poor kid who you'd asked for a pencil , anyways?"

Marinette sighed, remembering his face perfectly for some reason. The shocking green eyes were what stood out the most. "I don't know," Marinette admitted, scratching her cheek. "I don't think you know him either.. he sorta looked like some model. I kid you not, his face was so perfect. I wanted to draw it before I realized I messed up."

Alya laughed, stirring her drink with the straw. "Typical Marinette. Finally found a guy you like, though?"

"W-What, no!" Marinette spluttered, her face red. She never got worked up over guys, but for some reason this one was making her act odd. "I just- artist stuff. Someone like you would never understand."

"Wow, offended," Alya said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah, I don't need to be an artist to get that my face is _purr-_ ty _paw-_ some."

Marinette gasped and whipped her head up to see the same green-eyed boy from before standing before their table, except this time he had a hood with cat-ears up on his head and was with the boy wearing the red hat who was sitting in front of her before. Said boy was exasperatedly shaking his head and muttering along the lines of "your puns suck, dude" and "please don't". Marinette immediately reddened to match her hoodie and slid further down her seat, ignoring a cackling Alya. "How much of that did you hear?"

The (punny, she discovered) boy grinned and shrugged. "Enough. We've been here before you."

Marinette's mouth opened and closed, and, finding no words, she threw all formality out the window and hit her head against the café table. "Life hates me," she mumbled unintelligibly. "Math hates me. This is math's fault. Imaginary numbers should stay imaginary."

"Actually," Alya cut in, "it's because you stayed up late designing for that Gabriel's entry-"

"Shhh," Marinette smothered Alya's words with her palm. "That's irrelevant…"

"A Gabriel's entry?" The blond cocked his head. "Like for his upcoming Winter Fashion line contest?"

Marinette took her hand off of Alya's mouth and looked at him, surprised. "Wow. I didn't peg you for the designer type…"

"I'm not," the boy quickly said. At the girl's curious blubebell (beautiful?)-eyed stare, he slightly reddened and looked away. "Uh- I just know, because- um… Nino here loves to model!"

He pulled his friend forward by the shoulders. Nino protested, struggling against his friend's hold. "Hey, don't drag me into this, man!"

The boys paused in their banter to see both of the girls laughing. After watching the dark haired girl- Marinette, was it?- laugh, Adrien suddenly remembered what he'd come for and pulled something out of his hoodie pocket.

"By the way," he said, putting a pencil on the table in front of Marinette, "here's the pencil you asked for."

"I don't-" Marinette began, but paused when she saw black scribbles on the pencil.

Seeing that as his cue, Adrien grabbed Nino by the arm and bolted out of the café. " _Hopetoseeyoulaterbye_!"

Outside, nearly a block away from the café, Nino was panting with his hands on his knees. He irritably glanced up at his friend, who was barely winded. "If you were gonna execute a plan," pant, pant, "in which you were gonna act all suave," pant, "then you should have acted _SUAVE!"_

Adrien spluttered indignantly. "I-I was suave! I did the puns, didn't I?" At Nino's deadpan stare, Adrien sweated. "Don't give me that look, man! I gave her the pencil, right?"

Nino snorted, an amused look on his face. "A pencil with your number on it. Watch as she can't even read the tiny numbers!" At Adrien's horrified expression, Nino burst out with laughter. "BRO!"

In the end, Marinette could read the numbers. She labeled him in her phone as 'Black Cat' until she later discovered his name.

 **I found the lost file lol**


	42. Miracle Fish

**if you like fairy tail, check out Fairy Tail Snippets! Gonna be a collection just like this one. I've the one chapter posted so far.**

 **anyways I found this idea in my notebooks. WRITER'S BLOCK SUCKS! Hopefully after this it will be ridded of.**

 **~Miracle fish- they truly are miraculous~**

Marinette realized after a few moments that she and Alya were not the only ones watching the wriggling fish on her palm with bated breath.

"Uhm…" Marinette looked up to see that nearly all her classmates, the ones who were in class before the bell that is, were staring at the cellophane fish as it twisted and turned in her right palm. Kim, Max, Rose, Ivan, Mylene, Alix, Nathaniel, and Alya all looked on. "You guys finding this fun?"

Alix shrugged, her palms cupping her chin. Right now people weren't sitting in their assigned seats, as the first class of the day had yet to begin for another fifteen minutes. A group consisting of her, Kim, Rose, and Mylene were seated around Marinette's and Alya's desk while everyone else watched from their own seats. "Ain't much else to do, right? Besides, I bet your fortune would totally be 'in love'. "

Kim grinned. "You wanna take me up on that bet?!"

"Shut up, Kim."

"What makes you so sure that it'd be 'in love'?" Marinette asked inquiringly. The fish was still moving about. Alix and Alya both groaned exaggeratedly and the latter dropped her forehead on the desk.

"Yeah, say that when Adrien comes in, ok? And don't stutter!"

Marinette turned red, much like the fish _still_ moving about on her hand, and ducked her head. "Shut up, Alya."

"Oh, I think it's finally done!" Rose squealed. Marinette looked up to see that the fish had, in fact, stopped moving.

"That went for a solid twenty-one point eight three six seconds! Quite above the average, and if you were to find the standard deviation of different timings using the-"

"Okay Max!" Kim cheerfully interrupted. "Let's save the maths- _bleh-_ for class. What's your fortune, Marinette?"

"Hm…" Marinette flipped over the envelope of the miracle fish to look at the readings on the back. On it were listed: _'Moving Head... Jealousy. Moving Tail….. Indifference. Moving Head And Tail…. In Love. Curling Sides….. Fickle. Turns Over….. False. Motionless….. Dead One. Curls Up Entirely….. Passionate.'_

"Well, mines curled up entirely. Looks like I'm passionate!"

"That makes sense," Nathaniel quietly spoke up. When several people inquiringly looked up at him, Marinette included, he reddened slightly and twirled his sketching pencil in his hands. "Uh-Well… when you design, you put your all into it. And also when you help everyone as class rep."

"He's right!" Mylene agreed. "And you always stand up to Chloe when nobody else does."

"Wow," Marinette sheepishly laughed, scratching her cheek. "I don't know about tha-"

"That's Marinette for you!" Alya earnestly laughed, throwing an arm around her best friend's shoulder. "Now it's my personal mission to help Adrien see all that, y'know?" She winked.

" _A-Alya-"_

"I heard my name?"

Everyone looked towards the doorway to see Adrien and Nino in the entrance, both waving.

"Hey guys!"

"Yo!"

"Come in!"

The boys came in and took their seat next to the group around Marinette and Alya. Marinette's jaw was hanging wide open at the sight of Adrien- _her totally amazing, graceful, kind and gorgeous Adrien!-_ and Alya subtly snapped it shut.

"So what's going on?" Adrien cheerfully asked once he and Nino had been seated. Alix took the liberty to explain by holding up the thin envelope.

"This magical fishy-thing here that Marinette's mom gave to her grants your fortune if you put it on your palm. It moves around and you read your fortune off the back of the packet. Pretty sick, right?"

Nino raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Wow! That does seem rad. How do you think it works, though?"

Before Max could open his mouth to explain, Adrien beat him to it. "Well, since it seems like its made of cellophane, which is a hygroscopic material, it probably reacts to the sweat glands in your palm." At everyone's stares, he blinked. "What? It's basic science, right?"

Nino shook his head as Max sulked in the back. "Dude. You are way too smart for your own good. Are you going to give it a shot anyways?"

Adrien grinned at Marinette. "Do you mind if I try?"

Marinette instantly sat up straight, her back nearly ramming against the seat. "I-wah-yes! I mean, no! UH? No, I don't mind, and yes, ahead go! _Go ahead!"_ She very nearly slapped the envelope into his outsretched hand and sighed in relief as Alya rolled her eyes.

Just as Adrien was about to shake the fish out of the envelope, Chloe sauntered into the room with Sabrina on her arm. At the sight of her _Adrichou,_ she rushed forward, leaving Sabrina behind. "Oh, Adrikins! You're already here!" She shoved her way through the small group, causing some people to irritably glare at the back of her head as she leaned over Adrien. "What is _that?"_ Without waiting for an answer, the girl tore the envelope out of his hands. Adrien sighed and whispered a 'sorry' to Marinette. She smiled and shook her head, as to indicate that it wasn't his fault.

"Ugh, what _is_ this trash? Figures that you'd get it from hanging around these kinds of people!" She made a wide gesture around, causing Kim to duck before her arm slapped his face. "Come on, sit with me!"

Nino slung an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Nah, he's staying here. Sorry Chloe!" Before the girl could protest (or worse, call for her _daddy),_ Nino smirked as he thought of a better plan. "But how about you try the fortune in your hands?"

"Huh?" Chloe held the plastic envelope between two of her long nails. "Is _that_ what this is supposed to be?"

"Well yeah," Nino nonchalantly shrugged. "It's said that the fortune fish grants bad fortunes to those who mock it." He waggled his fingers in a spooky manner. ""Course you don't believe in that stuff, do you?" He relaxed back against his seat and subtly winked at Adrien out of the corner of his eye, who was open-mouthedly staring.

"O-Of course not!" Chloe huffed and whipped her head to the side. "But… I might as well. It's not like this- this piece of trash can say anything worth remembering anyways!" She frowned as she slid it out onto her palm. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Now you wait," Marinette promptly replied, struggling to keep the grin down on her face. It broke out anyways, and on everyone else's faces as well, when the fish started moving and Chloe shrieked, trying to jump away from her own hand.

After a few moments she plucked it off and threw it back onto the desk. " _What the hell!_ What _is_ that gross thing?!"

Before Max could speak, again, he was interrupted by Mylene. "It's a miracle fish- it says on the packet!" A round of laughter went around the group, save for an irritated Chloe and a Max who sulked even more than before. "Well, what's my fortune?" The girl snapped.

Adrien picked up the envelope. "Well… how would you describe the movement of the fish?"

"Hm, let's see…" Chloe tapped a nail against her glossed lip. "Only the head part moved."

Kim tried stifling a laugh behind a hand to no avail. "Looks like you're jealous, Chloe!"

" _What?!_ The girl in question shrieked. "What would I have to be jealous about?! I have everything! Everyone loves me!" Chloe scoffed and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder before strutting away. _"Come on, Sabrina!"_

The girl in question jumped up and scurried after her, not staring at the fish any more.

"Alright, class is starting soon!" Mme. Bustier said as soon as she stepped in to the room. "I would like for you all to move to your assigned seats, please."

Reluctantly, Adrien began to move back to his seat when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Marinette holding out the envelope, seeming to make a valiant effort to look him directly in the eyes.

"Since you not do when Chlo- you not did- argh!" Marinette shook her head rapidly. "Since you, uh, didn't get to do it! Here!" She thrust it into his hands and he accepted it with a toothy smile.

"Thanks, Marinette! I'll give this back after class!" He gave her a little wave before moving down to sit next to Nino. Long after he'd turned his back, Marinette was still waving into space with a dopey smile on her face.

"Heh… yeah… after class…"

Alya rolled her eyes and slapped Marinette's hand down, also taking the liberty to close her jaw with an affectionate scoff.

Underneath his desk, Adrien stealthily took the fish out and laid it in his palm. With his other hand, he took things out of his schoolbag and put them onto his desk as he waited. About half a minute later, he looked down to check on the fish.

The head and tail were repeatedly curling in and out. Adrien carefully put the fish back in the envelope and flipped it over to see his reading.

 _In love…_

 **A/ N: If u guys haven't tried these? They are honestly so fun but I literally put it on a cucumber which turned out to be jealous. That sodium polyacrylate in the fishy really does the job ^-~**

 **ALTERNATE BONUS ENDING hehehe:**

Underneath his desk, Adrien stealthily took the fish out and laid it in his palm. With his other hand, he took things out of schoolbag and put them onto his desk as he waited. About half a minute later, he looked down to check on the fish.

It wasn't moving at all.

 _Dead one?_


	43. Spy AU

**GASP**

 **317 REVIEWS OMG WWOOOWWWW I DON'T DESERVE ALL YOU GUYS THANKS ;^; SO MUCH !**

 **ALSO, to answer you FictionGirl11, how Adrien explained the fish to work is correct. He is quite the smart kid B-) Also the sodium polyacrylate inside cellophane is a water-grabbing material, which makes the cellophane hygroscopic. Hope that answers your question!**

 **now lets get on with the chapter B-)))**

 **also bear with me for this chapter cus idk anything about European/ American weddings? the one with the white dresses? LOLOL desi weddings are just huge colorful loud parties with really good food and no formal reception or anything… so….**

 **~SPY AU: Marinette's first wedding isn't how she'd imagined it to be~**

Marinette, for as long as she could remember, had always wanted to get _married._

Who wouldn't want to dress up, look beautiful- _breathtakingly, stunningly beautiful-_ and join hands with the most important person in their life? And then eat cake, and dance, and party? It sounded too good to be true, but it happened every day!And Marinette would never forget those pictures which her mom had shown her of the day she'd gotten married. Everyone looked so… _happy._ Even in the pictures where they had cake smeared all over their faces and she was sure at least half the people there were drunk, everybody was obviously bursting at the seams with joy and elation. _A wedding._

Then again, still wanting that years later when you were a spy under training by Master Fu might seem a little weird and out of place. Especially when you were the leading spy of an elite team- dreaming of dresses and love and dances did not bode well when you were kicking the bad guys in the face. But Master Fu's new mission for _Team Miraculous_ was what got her into this mess in the first place.

 _A wedding._

" _Ladybug, are you ready?"_ Timebreaker's slightly static voice carried over to her on her ear-piece.

Marinette had been considering this question for a while now before Timebreaker had even asked. There wasn't much else she could do when she was stuffed into an overly puffy, white wedding dress with a horrendously tight corset and sleeves beaded with what she assumed to be fat pearls. Was she ready to infiltrate a wedding- _as the bride, no less-_ to arrest the bride's father for his being a _gang leader_ behind a political farce?

Hmm…

"No, I'm not!" She hissed her thoughts back into her speaker, quietly in case someone heard. It'd be weird if the bride was whispering to herself before her own wedding. "I didn't even agree to this! Why am I doing this?!"

" _We've told you before,"_ this time it was Reflekta's amused voice speaking through to her, " _team Miraculous agreed to it so you were obliged to participate. Especially since you have the stature closest to the real bride's."_

"I hate my team," Marinette muttered to nobody in particular. "I bet it was Bee that made them do this. Taking on this job… especially knowing I'll have to be stuck in this-" Marinette looked down at her disaster of a dress and refrained from gagging. "-this piece of trash…"

Marinette heard a laugh in her ear before it abruptly stopped. " _Alright Bug,"_ Timebreaker was back. " _You're gonna have to remove the earpiece now. Hide it where we made the spot and put on the veil. The band should start any second now…"_

Just as Timebreaker predicted, the band started up. "Over," Marinette quickly whispered before ripping the earpiece off and tossing it behind a houseplant seconds before three bridesmaids hesitantly peeked into the room.

"Are you ready?" One bravely spoke up, then ducked her head. Marinette recalled that the bride herself was supposed to be a snotty, arrogant brat. She felt bad for the bridesmaids, but had to do what was necessary.

"What do you _think?_ Take a look at me, then at yourself. Then you'll see who isn't ready!" Marinette made a show of flipping a lock of her wig over her shoulder, causing the bridesmaid to apologize profusely (and then apologize for apologizing).

Marinette picked up the veil and eyed it with mild disdain before slipping it on. Her blue eyes had been covered with contacts to make them amber, her face painted to look paler and more angular, and her hair concealed under a wig. She was wearing her fighting gear underneath the dress and had her weapon strapped to her leg. Her partner, Chat Noir, would come out of his hiding spot and crash the wedding as soon as she reached the altar and from there Bee and Volpina would join in as well. Everything was precisely planned, as it always was with _Team Miraculous,_ and would be precisely executed.

So why was she nervous? A sinking feeling was in her stomach and she had a feeling it wasn't from the tight corset.

 _I didn't want my first wedding to be like this!_

"Y-Your father is waiting," a different bridesmaid squeaked out before she rushed away. Marinette sighed, or at least tried to, with how ridiculously tight the corset was. She'd never missed her comfortable fighting gear the way she did now, even if it was under the dress.

Marinette stiffly made her way outside the dressing room with her heels clicking every step of the way. Outside was the bride's supposed father waiting. He was a short, portly man, the kind that reminded her of bad greasy food, with a bald head and a mustache with twirled ends. He wore a suit that was too crisp on his pudgy form and beady eyes took in her form as if she was someone _other_ than his daughter.

 _Ugh. What a nasty man. I'll have fun kicking his face in, that's for sure._

"You look lovely, darling," he spoke, and Marinette fought against dry-heaving. Even his _voice_ sounded oily. However much she resented it, though, she had to speak to him. The bride was supposed to be a suck-up to her father.

"T-Thank you, father!" Marinette stuttered in a shrill voice, ignoring his confused look and instead mentally retching. _Grossgrossgrossgrossgross-_

And then she had to link arms with the short, fat man, which wasn't that bad as she could appreciate the stitching on his suit which was very well done. It was evident that he had a lot of money. When they walked out into the aisle, Marinette's eyes raked over hundreds upon hundreds of guests dressed in clothes in a similar ridiculous fashion to hers. They all sat in benches made of fine wood and the wedding itself was in a church with a high, spiraling roof, stained glass windows, intricately painted walls and statues- all the big talk. The light passing through the stained windows made the place seem quite ethereal. Marinette would (grudgingly) admit, it was beautiful.

Still not how she wanted her first wedding to go, though. She'd totally bash her partners' heads in for this! Didn't they know how much this kind of thing _mattered_ to her? If not by her subtle implications, then her blunt ones-

"Ahem, Claudia?" Marinette snapped back to attention and saw Claudia's father looking at her expectantly. She blinked before realizing they'd already walked the aisle and he had to lift her veil and _kiss her cheek._

 _Where is that dumb cat? Why's he taking so long…_

As Marinette bent down a little so the short man could reach up and remove her veil, another unwanted thought entered her mind.

 _Is he okay?_

Marinette mentally scoffed. Of course he was! He was her partner for a reason. He had to be stro-

 _Oh my God. Did that just happen-_

The man pulled away from her cheek teary-eyed and the slimy sensation was no more, instead leaving a spot on her cheek which was being cooled by the surrounding air. _I think I'm going to vomit._

Claudia's father went to sit beside who Marinette assumed to be his wife, Claudia's mother. She was an imposing woman, adorning lots of heavy jewelry and makeup. Her lips were pursed as she stared at the groom.

Real panic slowly began to seep in as the groom took her hands and the priest began their vows. Time numbly passed by her as he spoke on and she realized, when the entirety of the church stared at her, that it was time for her to say "I do". What was Chat waiting for? She couldn't actually _marry_ this pompous looking man in front of her, could she?

Her heart beat through her chest and reverberated in her ears as they exchanged rings, the heavy diamond-gold band coming a little loose on her finger, causing the groom to confusedly stare a second longer. Things were slowly falling apart. Guests expectantly looked on, watches continued to tick, and Chat was nowhere to be seen. If the plan was supposed to go swimmingly, then Marinette was pretty sure she was drowning. She'd have to do things herself, which she was pretty sure she could _not_ do, if the sheer amount of guards stationed around the church was anything to go by. How many of those guards could be gang members with other deadly weapons? Was she ditched? Would the marriage just go on? Her first wedding would be to a man she didn't even love, didn't even _know,_ and would probably result in her death thereafter for being an imposter.

The priest finally spoke the words she'd feared most. Her fake amber eyes widened as he finally said, "You may kiss the bride." The man slowly leaned in with puckered, oily lips, and Marinette tried to subtly lean back, but nothing could stop the distance rapidly closing between them, not at this rate-

And then one of the windows cracked.

It echoed clearly throughout the church and Marinette felt a sudden weight lifted off of her chest as the crack grew, hushed chatter growing along with it, and the groom leaned away to look at the window with puzzlement.

And then the window itself shattered into a thousand pieces, letting daylight flood into the room, as guests shrieked and gasped. A figure leapt in through the window with something large and thrashing over their shoulder.

Chat Noir came in with his back to the light, illuminating his blonde hair. His luminous green eyes were the only visible feature on his face. A deadly expression was set on his face as he leapt down effortlessly onto the ground.

Everybody stared on in silence, not daring to utter a single word.

"You may not," Chat finally said cheerfully after a few seconds of insufferable silence. "But you can kiss this one! She's the real deal. Might wanna take that tape off though." On the ground sat the real Claudia, dressed in a plain dirty dress which stopped at her ankles. Her ankles and wrists were tied with rope, hair terribly mussed and looking more like a bird's nest (that would be a nice way of putting it) and a ridiculous amount of makeup smeared around her eyes and eyebrows. In the stands and up on stage, Claudia's parents and the groom fell in a dead feint.

Several other guests did, too, while most watched on in shocked silence after their share of shrieking was over. Chat turned to Marinette with a cheeky smile.

"Sorry about taking too long. The guards are a bit better than I'd originally thought." He was suddenly startled to see tears leaking out of his partner's eyes. "Whoa! Bug! Are you okay?" He suddenly bristled. "They didn't do anything to you, did they-"

"No, you idiot," Marinette smiled, shaking her head as tears still leaked out of her eyes. "It's just… ah. Nevermind. You didn't forget, did you?"

Guests had now begun to shriek for guards. The two up on stage paid them no mind, though. Chat grinned. "Of course I didn't. After your amount of pushing it was sort of hard to." From a back pocket in his dark pants, Chat pulled out multiple makeup wipes.

Marinette wasted no time in tearing off the veil and wig, unpinning her naturally dark hair from its high bun. Out came the contacts, and in the blink of an eye (literally) her irises were bluebell. She wiped all the paint off of her face, soiling nearly three whole wipes, and her rosy complexion took place of the pale tone that was there before. Finally, Marinette had the pleasure of ripping the dress down the front and shimmying out of it, revealing her in a red-and-black spotted fighting suit with a _kusarigama_ wrapped around her right leg.

When she turned, she found Chat looking at her softly with a small smile, as if she were… a bride. _His bride…_ or something. Which was, of course, totally ridiculous. Marinette reddened slightly under his (stupid) gaze and looked towards the entrance where the guards had finally made it inside from the perimeters. They slowly unsheathed swords and knives. "What? You're staring at me."

"Oh. Was I?"

"Yeah."

"…you look better like this. Than as a ridiculously dressed up bride."

"The dress was pretty horrible."

"And the makeup. And the hair. Honestly, everything."

Marinette smirked at him out of the corner of her eye as he tossed her Ladybug mask to her. "Thanks," she said, slipping it on.

Chat pulled out a spear from another pocket, which extended to be four feet long. "Don't thank me just yet, Bugaboo!" With that, they leapt into action, Bee and Volpina joining about fifteen minutes later, which made the job infinitesimally easier. It wasn't until later, much, _much later,_ after the man was arrested and the whole issue was resolved (and Team Miraculous being threatened to never pick such a job again by none other than Marinette), that they were able to relax in an outdoor café. As their normal, civilian selves, of course.

As Adrien went to get their food from inside, Alya and Chloe were snickering and talking over each other as they tried to retell the events that happened the prior week on their so-called _Wedding Job_. Marinette was doing her best to forget that abomination but apparently her teammates were having none of it.

"Girl, he was totally fuming," Alya sniggered. "From where we were waiting we could see him take his anger out on the guards. He actually bashed a couple extra heads, if you ask me."

"What? He told me that they were better than he thought!" Marinette said, irked. "You're telling me I was about to have my first kiss with some disgusting, head-up-his-butt dude because Adrien wanted an extra fight?"

"Well, there was also the fact that the Claudia chick was being a pain," Chloe conceded. She gave Alya a swift kick in the shin when the girl murmured "so like you then" and continued. "She was thrashing around and making noise, but Adrien actually put tape on her when she tried kissing him."

"She WHAT?" Marinette knew her jaw had dropped but did nothing to close it. "This girl was getting _married_ and she just tried to kiss her kidnapper?!"

"They're notoriously shallow, the whole lot of them," Chloe snorted. "It's too bad only the dad got arrested."

"It was an arranged marriage too," Alya added. "So I don't suppose being unfaithful would affect Claudia much."

"Still!" Marinette said to nobody in particular, anger boiling under her skin. The job was done and over with, but these new details made her wish she'd done some extra head-bashing a week ago.

"You two really _are_ made for each other," Chloe offhandedly commented as she leaned back in her chair, squinting her eyes in the sunlight that now got in her eyes. She lowered her sunglasses off of her head. "You're both spiteful enough in regards to the other to power a train."

Marinette turned red and sputtered. "T-That isn't true! We just, we have a job to do- and- UGH! I just didn't want my first wedding to be such a _disaster!_ "

Alya laughed, doubling over in her seat as Adrien came back with the food. He raised an eyebrow, seeing Alya all _amused,_ Chloe leaning back in her seat with an all-knowing look, and Marinette looking irritated with her red cheeks (and cute-what?).

"Did I miss something?" He asked as he set the trays down. Marinette pulled her tray towards herself and dug in immediately.

"Oh, no," Alya said with an amused undertone. "Just tell Marinette here that her next wedding will be fine and dandy. Since it'll be with you, of course."

That resulted in Marinette choking on her food and Adrien choking on his spit. It was going to be a long ride for those two.

 **I think this SPY AU is sorta cool! Master Fu has this whole organization of the people who beat up the bad dudes, and Team Miraculous would be the superheroes we know. I guess hawkmoth could be a guy who tries manipulating the spies! Maybe I'll do more on this one.**


	44. Quiz Off

**I'm pretty sure you all have heard of Miraculous Blackout, where from July 2 to July 15 people who create content for the Miraculous fandom go on strike and don't make any content. While I think it is a good idea, and helps spread the word that stealing and reposting is** _ **really bad,**_ **I won't be taking part because I just like writing too much! And I already take long breaks as is… lol**

 **But if you see anybody who reposts my work, please let me know so I can do something! I don't want to quit doing something I love because others take credit !**

 **anyways I got this idea from the miracle fish chapter… chapter 41? ENJOY!**

 **~Max explodes and challenges Adrien to a quiz-off, leading to a shocking revelation~**

Recently Adrien had been on a roll when it came to class. It'd seemed like people were feeling happy and dandy out in Paris because there hadn't been an akuma for a total of four days and Adrien had gotten to school right on time for each of those days (although he was a bit disappointed that he could only see Ladybug during their short night patrols). He was also able to get all of his homework done and didn't miss any of his extracurricular activities, which meant there was nothing that cut into his free time so he got to hang out with his friends a lot more. He got more sleep, too, and every day felt like a breath of fresh air. In class he participated more and Mme. Bustier made sure to let him know with her praises every time he answered a question correctly. Alya had started calling him 'literal sunshine child', but who was he to deny it? At times Nino acted like his cheery attitude was too bright and said that if he smiled any more everybody would go blind. Marinette, on the other hand, was even _more_ stutter-y and blushy and bumbling than usual, but he supposed that was just one of her quirks.

While it was positively awesome for Adrien, he did notice some drawbacks. Two, to be exact.

Firstly, Plagg's laziness had reached a new high since there was no need to transform during the day. He ate more cheese, made bigger messes, took longer naps, and said snarkier comebacks. Adrien was positive that if he sniffed the inside of his bag now, he'd retch from how strongly it smelled of Camembert cheese.

Secondly was… Max. Yes, Max. Max, the kid who sat in the back of the class and had a watch and was probably the smartest teen in Paris. At first he hadn't noticed it much, but after a while, it because evident that every time he said something remotely… well, _logical,_ or smart, it seemed Max sulked more than the last time. Adrien had thought of apologizing, but didn't really know how he'd go about that without sounding full of himself, or insincere, or a full out jerk: _"Hey, sorry for saying things that might sound smart. If it bothers you, I won't anymore."_

So, he'd said nothing. He tried raising his hand less but Mme. Bustier made it a point to call on him and Marinette more because of their tendencies to mysteriously dash out of class a lot (well, he was Chat Noir- he didn't know what Marinette's reason could possibly be). Maybe he was just overthinking? Was Max really moping or was it all in his head? In fact, Adrien didn't even know if it was his fault. Max could be having family issues for all he knew. As badly as Adrien wanted to ask Max what was wrong, he knew it wasn't his place. They weren't _that_ close.

However, Adrien found out that his first guess on the matter was correct one fateful day…

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

"Man, it totally blows that we have to spend our break in here," Nino lamented as he leaned back in his seat. It was raining out, _hard,_ and students had no choice but to stay inside their classrooms for lunchtime. Paris weather flipped around faster than a coin in air. It could be a bright and sunny morning and by nightfall you could be expecting thunder.

"It's not that bad," Adrien persuaded. "It's nice, being in here with everyone. The classroom is lively." He was right. Usually the lights were never on, but since it was cloudy the bright yellow lights which were on made the classroom seem cheerful. Mme. Bustier sat at her desk with a steaming cup of coffee, doing something on her computer, while students grouped up and chattered, laughing and joking alike. The steady _pitter, patter_ of the rain was a constant background noise.

"Of course you would say that," Alya teased from across the table. Alya and Marinette had joined to sit with Nino and Adrien (thankfully before Chloe and Sabrina could sit in those spots), the latter acting a bit strange, but nothing new. "Being the _literal sunshine child_ and all. In fact, I couldn't even tell it was raining with you sitting across from us. Right, Marinette?"

Marinette took it upon herself to just rapidly not and not choke on her food as she tried to talk. Adrien sheepishly laughed. "Can't a guy just be happy?"

"You aren't just happy," Nino stated. "You're _I-just-won-the-lottery-and-adopted-twenty-kittens_ happy. Wanna tell us what's up, bro, or will Alya have to dig it out of you with her crazy journalist talk- OW!" Nino bent down and rubbed his shin where he'd been kicked by a now-whistling Alya. "What? It's the truth!"

Alya innocently blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You'll know when you see the bruise that forms!"

"Bruise?! You're such a drama queen!"

As Nino and Alya bickered (flirted), Adrien was suddenly startled as a piece of cloth brushed his arm from across the table. He looked down to see cookies wrapped in a bundle.

"S-Sorry! For scaring you!" Marinette blurted. "But…uh- made I-UM! I made these yesterday! I-I thought you would want some…"

Adrien's face brightened up like no other. "Really? Are you sure?"

Marinette smiled easily this time. "Yeah, of course! Why not?"

Adrien rubbed the back of his head. "Well… I have a strict diet, after all, and it might be a bother to-"

"No!" Marinette said, and at Adrien's surprised face, she hastily continued. "I-I mean, it's never a bother! I live above a bakery after all. And if you're on a diet, that's all the more reason to eat some sweets! I can bring some to you tomorrow, if you'd like."

Adrien was so happy he could glom Marinette in a hug, but since the position just wasn't right, he excitedly held one of her hands between his own and shook it. "Thanks so much, Marinette! You're amazing!" He pulled away and took a bite out of a cookie, missing her red face. He swallowed and stared down at the pastry in wonder. "And these cookies are amazing, too!"

"Cookies?" Nino abruptly paused in his argument with Alya. "Whoa! Dude, can I have one?"

Adrien nodded, pushing the bundle to the middle of the table. "Marinette made these herself! They're fantastic!"

Alya grinned slyly, nudging Marinette in the ribs. "Oh, yeah. They really are, Adrien. Her cookies are much like her, _sweet and edib-"_

"Alya!" Marinette hissed. "Here, have a cookie!" With a smile _too_ pleasant, Marinette took one from the bundle and shoved it in Alya's mouth, causing her glasses-clad friend to cough and spray crumbs.

"These really _are_ good," Nino remarked after finishing off his own, ignoring the mess Alya was making. "Not that your cookies weren't totally amazing before, Marinette, but these seem different. Is it just me?"

Marinette smiled toothily and stopped shoving the cookie into Alya's mouth. "Actually, I did change one thing, I added a little more sugar. Papa told me the reasons why, but I don't quite recall…"

Max, who had been walking by after speaking to Mme. Bustier, opened his mouth to speak, but Adrien beat him to it. "Actually, I think I might know why!" At his friends' stares, he continued. "Singe sugar binds to water, you may have had a bit less before, which means more water would mix with the protein- being the flour- and make stronger gluten chains. And these stronger chains would make a tougher cookie."

Marinette nodded along. "Yes, that's the kind of thing that Papa had said to me!" Adrien grinned in response. Nino whistled. "Do you do some extra studying, or what?"

"It's gonna be on our test next week in Mendeleiv's class," Alya promptly replied, to which Nino fell out of his seat.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Max suddenly cried out, causing everyone to abruptly pause in what they were doing. He'd gained the attention of the class. "Adrien, is there anything you _can't_ do?"

Adrien floundered, his mouth opening and closing. "Wha-?"

"Not that you aren't one of the kindest kids ever, _which you are_ ," Max continued. "But, all my sense of pride has gone out the door! If only for my self-validation, I challenge you to a _quiz-off!"_

Adrien was so confused. "Wait, what's going on-"

"Alya! Marinette! Nino!" The three teens curiously listened to Max. "Please have the liberty of asking us questions for our quiz off! Questions about anything and everything!"

"Wha?" Marinette and Nino smartly said, whilst Alya suddenly saw her opportunity to display her Ladybug and Chat Noir knowledge. "Yes!" She exclaimed, to which Max gave her a thumbs-up.

"I didn't really agree to-"

"Oh man, is there a contest going on?" Alix hopped down from her seat and made her way over to the table at the front. "Finally, something interesting!"

"Max, or Adrien? This one will be tough," Nino commented, grinning at his best friend who stared in betrayal.

"What are you talking about? My buddy Max is gonna kill it!" Kim exclaimed, having made his way down and standing next to Alix.

"Ugh, you are all ridiculous!" Chloe's voice clearly rang out and everyone silently groaned, having forgotten about that little detail. To everyone's surprise, however, Chloe continued, "My dear Adrikins will win by a landslide."

Adrien thumped his head on the table as multiple people starting chattering about how Chloe was going to be in on it too.

"Ooh! Anyone want tea or snacks for this special event?" Rose squealed, going around. By now nearly the entire class had crowded around the table.

"Now then, let this quiz off begin! " Max cried out. "Adrien, to answer, you have to keep your hand behind your back and slap the desk as if it were a buzzer. Is that fair?"

Adrien sighed, readying himself into a position that made it easy to slap the desk. "I guess I'm doing this no matter what. Yes, that's fair."

"Okay! Marinette, Nino, Alya, have at it!"

Marinette and Nino made valiant efforts to ask questions which could have been difficult.

"Wuh-" Nino began. "What do DJs performing at events use?!"

At this, Adrien's hand instantly hit the table. "A record turntable and a DJ mixer!" Adrien exclaimed. "You told me that long ago."

Nino put a hand over his heart. "Bro."

"Okay, I sense bromance," Alix bluntly stated.

"Question two!" Marinette exclaimed, making the two contestants snap to attention. "Eh… er… which colors on the color wheel look vibrant next to each other?!"

Adrien's hand also slapped the table for this one. "Complimentary colors," he firmly answered, which was correct. He wasn't the son of a fashion designer for nothing.

The questions went on like this for a while, with Alya interjecting things about setting up websites and coding which Max ultimately answered, and Marinette and Nino's art related questions which Adrien mostly got. Alya's questions about Ladybug and Chat Noir were split up pretty evenly. By now the contestant's palms were reddened by all the slapping.

"Okay, final question," Alya said. Both of the boys were tied at twelve points each, and the break was going to end soon. Everyone watched on in anticipation.

"…what are all of the extra accessories, if you may call it that, on Chat Noir's suit?!"

Adrien's hand whipped out as fast as lightning and struck the table harder than in previous rounds, mere moments before Max's palm hit the wooden surface. It was silent for a few moments.

"By accessories, if you mean everything on top of the magical cloth surface," Adrien finally began. "There's his ears. There's also the bell, and a belt tail, which loops around his waist to hold his baton. He has gloves with claws, and boots with a metal surface on top." Adrien nodded as he went over everything in his head. " He has two pockets next to his ribs. His extra eye vision, too. Oh, and…" He was pretty sure nobody had seen it, since there wasn't really a chance to. Only he knew about it. But he couldn't play it too safe, especially when he was this close to winning! _If I lose on a question about myself I'll be a total failure to all things miraculous and the heavens above and Ladybug-_

Adrien shook his head. "There's a paw print pattern on the bottom of his boots," he finished.

"Well, you got all of it right," Alya said. "Except the last one. I don't think his boots have that."

Adrien was about to open his mouth to protest. He didn't really have any way to prove it- he couldn't just say, _Look, let me transform and show you!_ , but he could try! But before he could open his mouth, someone else did…

"They do," Marinette suddenly said, and everyone curiously looked to her. She suddenly stiffened as if realizing she said something she shouldn't have. "Uh- I do designing! And stuff… and I've drawn his suit before, so…"

Adrien's jaw dropped. She _had?_ He was totally going over tonight to ask and see!

Alya's jaw also dropped in a similar fashion. "I didn't know you were such a Chat Noir fan!"

Marinette reddened further. "I-I'm not! Just, as a designer, his suit is cool!"

"Yes," Chloe interrupted. "But that doesn't mean you've seen the _bottom of his shoes_ before."

"I-I helped him… in some instances…?" Marinette weakly defended herself.

"But in that case, we've all seen our fair share of him," Kim spoke up. "I can't think of any time where I could have seen the bottom of his shoes. Unless you paid attention to that sort of thing, which I wouldn't do."

"Yeah," Alix added. "If I was around someone as cool as Chat Noir his shoes wouldn't be my concern." Adrien internally puffed up with pride at that. _Heh, so that makes me a cool cat!_ "And it wouldn't be yours, either," Alix continued as she leaned closer to scrutinize a sweating Marinette's face. "You're hiding something!"

"No, I just- why are you all pressuring me?" Marinette evaded.

"Shouldn't we be asking how Adrien knows, too?" Max spoke up. Everybody realized he was right and the attention was turned onto Adrien.

"Yeeah, how do you know?" Alya scrutinized. Adrien gulped.

"Oh my gosh," Rose suddenly spoke up. "I think I know what it is for Marinette _and_ Adrien!" She stood up. "You guys each have a secret, don't you!"

Both Marinette's and Adrien's faces morphed into one of horror.

"YOU'RE PART OF THE CHAT FANCLUB!"

"I'M NOT LADYBUG!"

"I'M NOT CHAT NOIR!"

All three teens shouted at the same time.

Everyone stopped and stared at Marinette and Adrien. It was quiet. It was too quiet. Then, Marinette stood up on shaky legs.

"I feel like I've royally messed up," she quietly stated, and walked out with not a word from any of her classmates. Adrien walked out as well a few moments later.

"…"

"So," Max said to himself, but everyone could hear due to the thick silence. "I suppose Adrien wins. He'd know if his own boots have a pattern on the bottom…"

It was as if a spell that had been casted on the class suddenly broke. Everyone leapt up. "OH MY GOD! HIS OWN BOOTS- ADRIEN IS CHAT NOIR!" Nino shouted, shaking Alya's shoulders. She grabbed his elbows, only to scream back in his face.

"MARINETTE IS LADYBUG!"

"I KNOW!"

"OH MY GOD! THAT KLUTZ?!"

"SO CHLOE HAS BEEN FANGIRLING OVER MARINETTE?!"

"NO WAY!"

"WAIT- SO ADRIEN MAKES PUNS?"

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS!"

"FIND THEM!" Alix shouted, and everyone stampeded out of the room. Mme. Bustier sighed as the bell for the end of lunch break rung and not a single student remained in the classroom.


	45. Quiz Off- Part 2

**I wasn't planning on continuing last chapter, but I got several asks so why not? B-) a nice long chapter cus im feeling it! YA'LL LEFT SO MANY REVIEWS FOR CHAP 44? WHAT? THANKS YOU SO MUCH WOW?!**

 **Enjoy, don't forget to reviewwww yeeeee**

 **~twenty (million) questions~**

Marinette didn't make it very far before she stopped walking in the middle of the courtyard. Rain beat down, as it could be heard clearly, drops consistently bouncing off everywhere. Tikki floated out of her purse.

"So… you were pretty subtle," Tikki finally said after a full two minutes of silence. Marinette nodded blankly.

"Yeah… should I be freaking out?"

Tikki sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sure it will hit once you remember Adrien shouted that he _was_ n't Chat Noir."

Marinette hummed. "That's true, he di- _wait,"_ Marinette's eyes narrowed as she processed that sentence. "He- ADRIEN IS CHAT NOIR!"

Tikki sighed, having anticipated this. She flew into Marinette's purse to retrieve a cookie before floating back out, nibbling on it. "I'll eat while you do that," she spoke around the cookie to a Marinette who was currently not hearing her due to a big freak out session.

"ADRIEN," Marinette whisper-screamed as she tugged on her pigtails. "OH MY GOSH!"

"Huh… I heard my name…" A voice wafted around the corner, the accompanying person walking into sight seconds later. Adrien roamed around with a blank look on his face, pausing when he saw Marinette. "Yeah, I did shout pretty loudly, didn't I," Adrien added as an afterthought. A little black being floated out of his pocket, looking all exasperated, and Marinette jumped nearly three feet in the air.

"What is THAT?" She blurted. The thing rolled its green eyes. "I thought you would know, being Ladybug and all," it smartly said. This caused Adrien's eyes to widen.

"OH MY GOD!" He screamed, pointing at Marinette. "YOU-YOU-LADYBU-"

"Somehow I feel like these two have it worse than our previous holders," the black being floated over to Tikki as the two teens blubbered and pointed, who had eaten half of her cookie. The red being shrugged.

"They also had that crazy love square thing going on. This is expected." Tikki paused in her nibbling. "It's good to see you again, Plagg." The kwami in question smirked. "Likewise."

Meanwhile, Adrien and Marinette had upgraded from screaming and crazy hand gestures to just staring. Finally, Adrien spoke.

"So…"

"So…" Marinette echoed. "Want to- uh- talk? Probably for a long time and it'll mostly be me remembering a bunch of stuff and I'm rambling and I'll stop now?"

Adrien blinked. "Don't stop." He suddenly turned red and spluttered. "Uh-I mean-dammit." Marinette laughed for a split second, _Ladybug_ laughed, and Adrien felt his face get warmer. "Yeah… let's talk. And-"

"FIND THEM!" A voice suddenly shouted and the two teens jolted as the sound of many, many stampeding feet could be heard. Plagg and Tikki sped over to their respective holders.

"Save the mush talk for later," Plagg said loudly enough that Marinette and Adrien could both hear. "For now, you might wanna run from some answer-thirsty kids!"

Alya skidded around the corner opposite to where they were and pointed. "THERE THEY ARE! GET THEM! WE DEMAND AN INTERROGATION!"

Adrien and Marinette took off, sprinting out the doors despite the rain. "WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!" Adrien shouted over his shoulder, eliciting many groans from the already-panting students.

Adrien heard a snort and looked over to see Marinette grinning as she ran next to him, wet hair blowing over into her eyes. Their steps and breathing were perfectly in sync, breathing in the humid air and exhaling into the rain. "That was just such a Chat thing," Marinette easily said despite their sprint. "Should I get used to bad puns twenty-four-seven?"

Adrien just looked at Marinette, really _looked_ at her as they sped across the slick sidewalks which were empty and reflecting warm yellow lights that were on in the vicinity. Her eyes, the same blue, her hair, all tousled across her eyes and dripping with water(probably like how his looked right now), yet looking so Marinette and Ladybug at the same time that there was an odd feeling in his chest that just asked, _How did you not see this? How did you miss this? How could you not tell when she was right underneath your nose?_

It made him wonder what else he didn't see. Not concerning the fact that water was dripping into his gold locks and lashes, making every blink heavier than the last.

"Yes," he finally answered. Marinette looked up at him and he grinned. "This cat has got a lot more puns up his paws."

Marinette blinked and it seemed like she was lost. _What do I do? If it was Adrien, I'd probably laugh. If it was Chat, I'd roll my eyes. But he…_

They were the same green eyes, except the sclera was white and there was no black mask framing his face. It was the same mouth except the smirk the usually curled up on Chat's face was now on Adrien's face, and Adrien's neat and brushed back hair was going wild with the wind and rain. She had no idea what to do, what to _say,_ and she'd never liked feeling confused.

They turned a sharp corner and ran a few steps deep into the alley, melting into the shadows under an overhang when Alix and Kim ran past, looking around. They, being the rasher kids of the class, didn't care about the rain and ran around, getting wet.

"It'd be best to transform," Tikki said after she floated out of Marinette's purse. "Somehow I feel like this way there'll be a lot of dashing."

"That, and _I_ don't want particularly want to witness all the kissing that will follow," Plagg said, and Adrien's face turned mortified as both teens reddened faster than they'd ever before.

"Plagg, that's- _unprecedented,"_ Adrien hissed, face still crimson. He cut off what his kwami was going to say next by blurting, "Transform me!" Without any of the usual flourish and claw-swipes he usually did (Marinette would probably think he was a _dork_ ) he stood there awkwardly as Chat Noir as Marinette's blue eyes were the only thing visible from the shadows, his extra-vision going farther to pick out her body shape. Her eyes were blown wide.

"Uh- so will you climb the Eiffel Tower like that?" he tried joking. Marinette's blue eyes blinked once, then twice, and she suddenly jerked.

"O-Oh, right, heheh! I forget jus- just forgot- er- yeah!" She face palmed and muttered something, that must have been "Transform me" as she was suddenly Ladybug one flash of pink light later, fragments reflecting off of water droplets that fell from the sky and dripped from seemingly everywhere. Chat found himself staring. Now he knew what Marinette was feeling like when he'd transformed.

It was so… _outlandish_ in the best way possible. Suddenly instead of the threat of the mask being taken off, everything was flipped around and he'd just seen her mask form _onto_ her face, molding around the bridge of her nose and eyes and somehow making her this whole new figure with just a bit of red and the right amount of black. Somehow this really got the nail on the head for him.

Marinette was Ladybug. Or Ladybug was Marinette. It was the same thing.

"Um…" Ladybug quietly said. "I-" She sighed. "If I started talking here, I wouldn't stop, so want to go to the tower first?"

Chat nodded, no puns or flirting or joking like usual, and together they leapt off towards the Eiffel Tower in the rain. They perched on one of the lower rungs, slick with water and Chat could pick out in the distance a mob of kids, over half of them carrying umbrellas which looked like large black dots. He shook his head affectionately, unintentionally spraying water around. "They won't stop, will they," he mused, and Ladybug warmheartedly scoffed.

"Of course not. Especially Alya, knowing that the person she obsesses over is her best friend…" Ladybug shook her head, ribbons fluttering in the wet air. "We have a lot to get off our chests, don't we?"

Chat nodded, looking out at the city being pelted with water, much like them right now. Neither minded. "Yeah. Maybe we should just take turns, like with twenty questions or something…"

Ladybug raised one mask-covered eyebrow, water dripping and sliding down her face, sliding off her chin, making her suit shine and reflect in ways he'd never thought possible. "Twenty?"

Chat smiled. "Probably something like a million. But you get the idea." He gestured towards her. "Ladybugs first, right?"

Ladybug laughed, a laugh that he realized was the same as the one he'd heard around school from Marinette. He was really questioning how dense he could be at this point. "Okay then," she exhaled, leaning back on her hands carefully as not to slip on the glistening metal rung and swinging her legs a little. "How do you feel?"

"What?"

"Uh," Ladybug's cheeks reddened under her mask, nearly blending in. "Of… _this,_ " she waved a hand around, water catching on it. "You run around with Marinette Dupain Cheng on a daily basis to defeat villains. Does that… sound weird? Bad-weird?" At Chat's silence she groaned. "Wait, no, that was a stupid-"

"It sounds weird," Chat confirmed, causing Ladybug to look at him wide-eyed. "But it's a good weird. I feel like it's just weird since… you know, it's always been so- _secretive,"_ he saw Ladybug nod. "And all of a sudden there's a face behind that mask, which I _know_. But when I think about it, I wouldn't want to be thrown around by anyone else," he ended on a joking note, causing his partner to swat at his shoulder.

"Okay," Ladybug conceded, still red. "Your turn."

"Well, how do _you_ feel?" Chat asked, leaning back in similar fashion to her. He blinked the water out of his eyes and swiped one sopping lock of hair aside. Two pigeons fluttered past them with difficulty and settled on a rung, trying to find cover from the rain together.

"Uh- okay, this may sound weird," Ladybug said. Chat raised a brow. "I'm very confused. Adrien and Chat… I acted around them both so, _so_ differently." The rain was startling to let up. "You, Chat, just acted like a total dork." Chat spluttered while Ladybug continued, either unaware or ignoring him. "But Adrien… I…" She somehow turned even redder, if possible. "Uh. _I_ was the dork around Adrien. If Chat and Adrien both did the same thing, I'd react differently to each of them. So now, it's like, I may react to you as Chat one way, then suddenly remember like- _oh, it's Adrien!-_ and freeze up. Or vice versa. Like now," she sighed, water collecting in her lashes and sliding down her face and body. "I'd never be able to get these many words out to you as Adrien."

Chat confusedly cocked his head. "Why not?"

Ladybug looked at him, startled. "Um- it's my turn!" She evaded, causing Chat to narrow his eyes in suspicion. "Um… what perks do you find about being Chat?"

"Well.." the questions continued on. Slowly, they loosened up and found their own pace of how to ready themselves, constantly berating themselves for being so stupid before. From questions like how the situation was feeling for them, to what their favorite food was, to feeling utterly embarrassed after remembering certain moments, the two partners and friends kept talking in the rain, getting soaked to the bone without a care in the world, and they probably would have kept talking had they not been interrupted.

"GUYS!" Ladybug paused in her telling a tale of how she'd barely managed to save a tray of croissants after tripping in the bakery (Chat pouted; he already liked seeing her talk, but that story was about _food_ ) and looked down. There, in all their glory, stood their whole class with their necks craning up to look at them, most of them carrying umbrellas (Sabrina holding one over Chloe's head for her with straining arms), while a reckless few decided to just get wet.

Chat's ears swiveled on his head as he, too, leaned down. Alya and Nino were part of the reckless few, with their hands cupped around their mouths. "COME DOWN! WE HAVE QUESTIONS!"

Chat looked at Ladybug and she grinned. Leaning down lower, she shouted, "MAYBE LATER!" An outraged sort of screech arose from the twelve kids down below and Alya shook a fist.

"I SWEAR TO GOD, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"NAH," Chat shouted down. "THEN YOU WOULDN'T GET ANSWERS FOR YOUR BLOG!"

"SHUT UP, YOU CAT! AND ALSO, THE PAW PRINT ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR BOOTS REMIND ME OF BEANS!"

Chat confusedly lifted a boot up to look at the bottom. "Beans?"

"THE POINT IS," Nino hollered, hooking his arms around Alya's arms to prevent her from having a go at climbing the Eiffel Tower. His cap wasn't on his head and his glasses were getting pelted with rain. Chances were his vision was muddled with raindrops. "WE'RE SORT OF REALLY IMPATIENT FOR ANSWERS, HERE!"

"IN DUE TIME," Ladybug shouted back down and waved a hand. This time the outraged screech sounded louder. She looked over at Chat, giving him a smile that made his heart stop in the rain. "Besides," she said, "when they see this they'll really blow." Then she kissed his cheek.

Chat fell off the tower.

 **I think its cuter when the reveal happens and they don't instantly go like "MY TRUE LOVE ITS YOU (insert mush and fast-paced thoughts)" and then make out… LMAO**

 **LETS BE REAL., THEY STILL CUTE LITTLE DORKS THESE KIDS WHO SWOON AT THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHER'S SIGHT ARENT SUDDENLY GONNA START KISSING AND BE ALL CASUAL ABOUT IT**


	46. The Floor Is Lava

I saw this prompt on tumblr a few days ago, forgot who it was from, if u know please tell me who it is!

noooot feeling stellar bout this 1 TT-TT

 **~the floor is lava~**

Chat snickered as he landed on the Eiffel Tower seconds before an amusingly irritated Ladybug. The night was lit up with lights- not in the sky, but in the city below. The Eiffel Tower itself was glowing.

"You just got lucky," Ladybug conceded as she met up with Chat. She was usually faster than Chat Noir in their nightly races, but she was equally as much of a sore loser. That fact usually just made her seem more endearing to Chat, though. Chat laughed.

"Come _on,_ my lady, who do you think I am? My power revolves around bad luck itself."

The corners of her mouth lifted up in a smile, betraying her. "Yeah, fine, good point. But Chat…"

Chat's black ears instantly perked, attentive to Ladybug's tone. "What's wrong?"

She was looking at him out of the corner of one eye, that eye reflecting all the lights of Paris and making him pause for a second just to admire it. He only realized what she'd said a second later when she swung away laughing.

"The floor, rooftops and tower is lava!"

"Hey, not fair!" Chat Noir called out to her across a road, grinning, as he balanced on his baton off of a tree mere moments later. "It was my turn to call it out!"

Ladybug stuck her tongue out childishly at him from her perch on a lamppost across from him. "You were too slow."

They played this game of 'the floor is lava' (except much more intense, what were they, normal?) every time they patrolled, so it was natural that it was second instinct to soar away and find someplace to clamber up on when the words 'the floor is lava' were heard.

Well, that was problematic.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Alya rubbed her hands together in front of the bakery doors and laughed evilly, ignoring any strange glances given her way by passerby. She had hatched the perfect plan to hereby _end_ Marinette's pining over Adrien and turn them into a real couple. It had to work!

Finally, after calming down a little, Alya opened the door and plastered on her sweetest, most innocent smile to Sabine (who knew better just by looking at Alya's face, but said nothing).

"Hi, Sabine!" Alya chirped. "Is Marinette down yet?"

Sabine shook her head, ringing up a customer. "No, but she should be tripping down here soon enough. I assume you have a new plan?"

Alya's smile dropped into a gape. "Wha-?"

Sabine's eyes twinkled. "That look on your face. You _do_ have a plan, don't you?"

Alya shook her head in awe, jaw still gaping. "You are a woman of wonders, Sabi-"

"ACK!" A pink blur came roughly rolling down the stairs and halted at the foot of the steps, a groaning heap. Sabine sighed and shook her head. "Alya's here for you, Marinette. Don't trip on your way out!"

"Ha, ha," Marinette grunted, getting up from the floor, promptly choosing to ignore baffled stares of the customers. "Very funny, Mom. See you after school!" Marinette quickly kissed her mother's cheek and linked her arm with Alya's as they walked out the door to the bakery. As they were walking to school, Alya beamed as she went over her foolproof plan once more in her head.

 _Shout 'the floor is lava!' when she's next to Adrien. Then make sure Nino and I clear the space so the beautiful bridal style jump-and-carry is executed! Voila! New couple. Now Chloe can stop being a brat and I'll get so much food from Mari-_

"Alya? Hello?" Alya blinked and saw a hand waving in front of her face. Marinette pulled it back. "We're already here."

Alya blinked once again and found herself at the steps of the school. Wow, how time flies!

"Ahaha, sorry girl, I was just thinking about… my blog, yeah," Alya said, spotting Adrien talking to Nino and dragging Marinette along towards them. "Oh, look, there's Nino and _Adrien!"_

Marinette squeaked and struggled against Alya, who persistently walked towards the boys until they were right in front of them. "Good morning!" Alya said cheerfully, drawing the boys' attention to her (and her friend who was hanging off of her arm, literally).

"Oh, hey Alya!" Adrien replied just as cheerfully, waving back. Nino tipped his hat. "Yo!"

"Good morning Marinette," Adrien greeted the girl, who was half-slumped against the ground from being dragged by Alya. Said girl instantly shot up, causing Alya to stumble a little. "Morning! Good one! Good morning, I mean- yeah! Heh… heheh…"

Alya narrowed her eyes. _Phase one!_ If her luck was good enough, everything would go smoothly. Checking the time on her phone, she nodded, seeing as she had six minutes left until class began. Perfect. Just enough time to get Marinette to climb onto Adrien. What could go wrong? With how jumpy Marinette was, there was near a 99.9 percent chance everything would go as according to plan.

That other 0.1 percent would have to be something ridiculous, like the ground breaking beneath them and actually turning into lava, or Marinette finding some miraculous way to leap into the sky.

Tuning back in to her friends' chatter, Alya managed to catch Nino's eye (through a series of large movements and glaring) and tried to convey her plan to him. Said boy in question just confusedly scratched his cheek and mouthed, _what?_

Alya gestured to Adrien first, who was talking to Marinette, then Marinette, who was trying to say something coherent, and then made some very intense finger-wiggling motions from the ground up to represent fire. She then mimicked Marinette jumping and switched to the role of Adrien, who would catch her (Alya made it seem very princely and less realistic- she even threw in a wink). When she was done, she balked to see all three of her friends confusedly staring at her.

"Alya…" Marinette slowly began as if she were crazy. Well if it was anybody's fault that she _was,_ it would be Marinette's! "Are you ok?"

Alya opened her mouth to answer yes, but then thought of something better and grinned. "No," she said, startling her friends before continuing, "because the floor is lava!"

Adrien and Marinette instantly tensed up and looked around, and Alya proudly marched over to Nino's side to stop him from going anywhere, turning her back to Adrien and Marinette. "You see," Alya told him as she held him in place by the elbow, "now Marinette will jump into his arms!" At Nino's shocked face, Alya grinned widely. "Is it a good sight? Are they snogging yet-"

Nino's mouth opened and closed like a fish for a few moments before he mustered a simple, "Look."

Alya turned to look, ready to behold the fruits of her endeavors.

She was not greeted with the sight of the fruits of her endeavors.

Kids crowded in the courtyard and gasped, whipping out phones to take pictures and excitedly chattering.

There they were, Chat Noir holding himself up by the basketball hoop and Ladybug sitting on a railing, both of them dumbly staring at each other.

 **whoppee**


	47. Present

**man.. writer's block sure does suck :-: I AM SORRY !**

 **IN OTHER NEWS I binged Inuyasha and BNHA in like 2 weeks. be proud my readers. (don't)**

 **I guess some cliché would be a good way to worm out of the hole called writer's block, no?**

 **ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT OF SUMMER. I DON'T WANT HIGH SCHOOL ;-; ITS INTIMIDATING DAMMIT**

 **~ Birthdays, cupcakes and Copics- it doesn't get much better than this.~**

"It's your WHAT?!"

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at Chat, now sprawled on the rooftop. She scratched her cheek. The rising sun cast golden rays of light everywhere, causing the silly position Chat was in to look sort of, oddly ethereal. She should've brought her sketchbook. Paris was beautiful in this moment.

"…Yeah? You know, everyone has them? I hope you do too."

"No, of course, but-" Chat lifted his face from the rooftop and spluttered. "Wh-Why didn't you tell me before that today was your _birthday?!_ I would've gotten you something!"

Ladybug laughed, crouching down. "Don't worry. I don't make it a big deal to make sure everyone knows when my birthday is. Besides, you don't have to get me anything."

"I _want_ to!"

"It's fine, really," Ladybug laughed again. She settled down crisscross on the rooftop next to him, pulling out a golden bakery box from who-knows-where. "A cupcake to ease your thoughts?"

Chat immediately sat up in a catlike crouch, gaping at the box. "No. No way. It is _your_ birthday and here I am, not giving you any presents, while _you're_ offering _me_ cupcakes?!"

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "You're making this a bigger deal than it is. I get plenty of presents from my friends and parents. You're my partner. That's enough for me."

Chat was still gaping, but this time it was directed at Ladybug. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "L-Ladybug…!"

Ladybug shoved a cupcake in his face. "Oh, just eat it already, would you!"

It was a chocolate cupcake with a pretty swirl of sweet, white frosting on the top, garnished with white and dark chocolate shavings. Chat stared at the masterpiece, barely keeping the drool in his mouth.

He glanced back at Ladybug, who was watching him. He cheekily grinned. "Don't you know chocolate is bad for cats? Is this _purr_ nishment for not getting you a _purr_ esent?"

Ladybug groaned. "You're unbelievable. Just eat it already! I made it specially for this day."

Chat choked on his spit, the cupcake halfway to his mouth. "YOU WHAT?!"

"I feel like this has happened before," Ladybug murmured.

Chat delicately set the cupcake down beside him on the cleanest patch of roof he could find (despite the fact that the cupcake was wrapped) and pounded on his chest, hacking and coughing. He wheezed.

"You… made… this?"

"Yes," Ladybug pointedly said, "so eat it and tell me how it tastes."

"I-" Chat looked at the treat with a determined look in his eyes. "What's one thing you want?"

"Huh?"

"Tell me something you want."

"…No," Ladybug finally said. Chat didn't back down. "If I do, you're going to buy it for me."

"Exactly the point! Now, what's num _purr_ one on your wish list?"

Ladybug crossed her arms and turned her face away with resolve. "Not telling."

"The day is new!" Chat exclaimed, gesturing to the rising sun. "It's going to be your birthday all day. That's enough time for me to get something for you. Now, just spit it out!"

"No!" Ladybug said again. "For your information, the thing I want is ridiculously expensive."

It was true. She'd been saving up money for who knows how long just to buy the thirty-six pack of Copic Sketch markers she'd been eyeing on the market for some time now. Extra errands for the bakery, several sold commissions, and giving up some deals at the fabric store- those were all things she'd done, and now she was close. While she'd positively fly to the sun if someone got it for her, her guilt would bring her back down to Hell. No way would she subject anybody to that 125 euro monstrosity.

"I can do expensive," Chat said with a serious tone, and Ladybug burst out laughing. He was barely serious, and over such a subject, she couldn't help but be amused.

"No, even if you can, you _won't._ Not for me." Ladybug firmly said.

Chat flattened his ears on his head and pouted, staring up at her. Ladybug sweated and could _feel_ her resolve cracking. Damn it! When had he learned the-

"The baby doll eyes…" she groaned, and slumped down. Chat grinned once he knew he'd won.

"In my case, they're kitty eyes," he said proudly. He scooted closer to Ladybug, careful not to topple the cupcake. "So? What is it you want?"

Ladybug accusingly glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "You can't get it for me even if I tell you. Deal?"

Chat crossed two of his fingers behind his back and innocently smiled at Ladybug. "Sure!"

"Okay," Ladybug breathed. "Well… there are these markers I want. Copic markers. They're alcohol ink, and they flow super smooth. It's like- you can blend them _super_ easily, and they're dual tipped so there's also a brush tip, and it doesn't even leave streak marks-!" Ladybug blinked and realized she had one hand in the air, mimicking the use of a marker. She whipped it back to her side and rubbed the back of her head, flushing.

"S-Sorry! Guess I got carried away. But Copics…" Ladybug sighed as if love-struck. "I've been saving for a long time. I'm close now!"

Ladybug looked over to see Chat. His face was unreadable. She waved a hand in front of it.

"Hello? Earth to Chat?"

"I'm here," Chat said. "So…Copic markers?"

Ladybug gave him a deadpan stare. "You'd better not buy-"

"Ahaha, look at the time!" Chat exclaimed, jumping up as he looked at his wrist (which didn't have a watch on it). He stooped down once to pick up the cupcake and smoothly transitioned to a bow. "See you later, My Lady!"

"Wai-"

Chat jumped off before she could finish and she shook her head.

"Well, it's not like he knows where to buy them from," she mused as she got up. The rest of the cupcakes would be delivered during class. "Besides, the price will probably scare him off." Nodding, Ladybug also swung off in the direction of her home, a few minutes before her alarm rang.

She didn't know that she was wrong on both accounts.

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARINETTE!"

Marinette screeched as she was suddenly glommed from behind by no other than her best friend, Alya, as she was walking up the steps to school. Alya roughly mussed up her hair and the girl groaned, not bothering to fix it back into place.

"Thanks for the present," Marinette said, and Alya laughed.

"There's still more!" Alya grinned from ear to ear as she reached into her bag and pulled out a long, flat, rectangular box adorned with pink ribbons which were slightly crinkled. Marinette raised an eyebrow and carefully set the box of cupcakes down, taking Alya's box into her hands instead.

"What is it?" Marinette asked- she wasn't actually asking what was inside. Instead, it translated to _'Is it too embarrassing to open in front of everyone because you're evil?'_

Alya's grin got wider, if possible. "Open and find out!"

' _Nope! Not this time.'_

Marinette carefully lifted the cover and gasped, opening it all the way.

"No way! You got me the latest fashion magazines?! These things are pricey!" Marinette squealed and threw her arms around Alya's neck. "I don't deserve you!"

Alya pulled back from the hug and smirked. "Look under! There's three layers."

Marinette blinked and lifted the edge of the magazine. A neatly folded piece of fabric, the shade of pink which had been on sale at the fabrics store- the one she didn't buy because she was saving up for Copics. Marinette had nearly cried that day.

"Alya, you…" She gazed up at Alya with teary eyes. "You're an angel!"

"Oh, I know, girl," she said, placing a hand on her chest. "What would you do without me? But there _is_ a third layer, you know." As Marinette began to lift the fabric to take a look, Alya slammed the lid of the box back on, causing Marinette to yelp.

"Not here," Alya whispered. "Besides, Prince Charming's here!" Alya turned Marinette's cheek towards Adrien, who was coming out of his limousine. Marinette choked.

"O-Oh, that's right!" Marinette picked the bakery box back up from the steps and opened it, revealing many immaculately frosted cupcakes. Alya shamelessly drooled. "Here, have one! Or two. Considering you're my favorite girlfriend."

"You're a heaven send," Alya proclaimed, and as she bit into the cupcake, she dreamily sighed. " _These_ are heaven sends. Don't tell me you made them."

"I made them."

"Oh my God. We are totally living together just so I get to eat like this every day. 'Kay?"

Marinette giggled. "Sure."

"Oh, Adrien!" Alya called out, waving her arm in the air. Marinette immediately froze up. "C'mere!"

"Hey, girls!" Adrien took a look at the present in Alya's hands. "Special occasion today?"

"Yeah, well, she wouldn't tell you because she's weirdly humble," Alya started, ignoring Marinette's rapidly shaking head. "But today is Marinette's birthday!"

"Wait- what?! IT IS?" Adrien looked to Marinette with wide eyes for confirmation and she reddened, ducking her head.

"Well- it's not really a big deal, so you wouldn't know, but…"

"It _is_ a big deal! I should have gotten you something!" Adrien protested. "Is it okay if I can drop something off after school?"

"Adrien, you don't have to!" Marinette blurted, stutter left behind. "My birthday, my treat. Here, want one?" She opened the box again and Adrien's eyes widened.

"Marinette… did you make these?"

"Sure did," Alya grinned, wrapping an arm around Marinette's shoulders. "That's Marinette for you!"

"W-Wow," Adrien breathed, and Marinette reddened further. At this point, if she had five spots on her face she'd look exactly like Ladybug.

Adrien blinked and shook his head. "Um- y-yeah, thanks, Marinette! These tasted really go-" Adrien abruptly stopped. " _I mean,_ I'm sure they'll taste really good! You- _they,"_ Adrien coughed, and the girls blinked. "They look amazing. Uh- thanks again. See you!" Adrien hastily climbed up the steps and rushed inside.

Class passed by in a flurry that day. Many people who'd known Marinette since elementary school had gotten her presents and sung Happy Birthday to her, much to Marinette's mortification, and people were constantly wishing her a Happy Birthday throughout the day. By the end, Marinette's arms were ladled with presents despite telling only a few people about her birthday. Word had probably spread. Nino had vehemently promised to bring her something tomorrow (and almost fainted, for some reason, when he ate her cupcake). Even Chloe had said something remotely nice to her. Well, as nice as Chloe could get.

"Don't mess up today like every other day, birthday girl." Well. It was what it was.

When Marinette finally got home, she was greeted by a loving bear-hug from her parents and an equally embarrassing song of Happy Birthday- in which all the customers at the bakery joined in. She didn't think her face could get much redder.

Marinette walked up the steps to her room, careful not to drop any boxes, and finally settled into her room, depositing the presents on her chaise. She sighed and stretched leisurely.

"Happy Birthday, Marinette!" Tikki exclaimed as she flew out of her purse. The girl grinned in return.

"Everyone was so over the top with their gifts," Marinette said, gesturing to the pile on her chaise. "Even after I told them not to get me anything! But I'm lucky to have such great friends."

"As a hero, you definitely deserve this," Tikki proclaimed, heading over to the pile where Marinette's box of cupcakes was located on top. Tikki lifted the cover with minimal difficulty and gasped happily, seeing several cupcakes left over.

"Help yourself," Marinette giggled, and Tikki dove into the box, the cover falling shut.

As if waiting for a cue, there was a loud thump on her balcony, and Marinette raised an eyebrow. Chat Noir? Well, it was a good thing Tikki was already hidden.

Marinette climbed up the stairs to her loft bed and opened up the trapdoor, climbing out herself.

"Chat Noir?" Marinette dubiously said.. "What're you doing here?"

For once, he wasn't a quirky, punny cat. He was quiet. Worry blossomed in Marinette's chest and she stepped forward. "Chat? Are you okay?"

Chat snapped out of his reverie. "Oh- uh, I'm fine!" Marinette raised an eyebrow.

"What's that you're hiding behind your back?"

Chat rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle. "Well, I heard it was your birthday…"

Marinette gaped. "What?! No way! Who told you? Wait, never mind that. You didn't… _get me something,_ did you?"

This time it was Chat who raised a brow, hidden under his mask. "You act like it's a bad thing."

"No, no, it's just-" Marinette gestured to her chaise through the open trap door. "I already have too much! Besides, I'd feel bad! The only thing I've ever given you is- is sweets, and hot cocoa- and- and rants on my balcony!"

"They were conversations that I enjoyed. And you also gave me friendship," Chat said firmly. "You're my friend. So that's why I got you something." Marinette floundered, unable to say anything. Chat pulled out a relatively large box from behind his back and set it on the ground between them. Marinette gaped.

"Chat! Anything that big has to be worth too much. I can't!"

"But, it'd make me happy," he said, and Marinette hesitated. Internally he grinned. To push it further, he flattened his ears and gave her the exact same expression he'd given her that morning on the rooftop- when she was Ladybug. As predicted, she groaned and slumped.

"Thanks, Marinette! I'll see you around later!"

"Wait!" Marinette turned to see Chat already crouching on her balcony railing, ready to jump off. "You're not going to stick around?"

Chat's face took on an unusually soft expression. "You'll see me sooner than you think." And with that, he leapt off.

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. "What was that all about?" She murmured.

"I don't know, but you should open his gift!" Marinette yelped and turned around so fast that she tripped onto the ground. She glared up at the floating Tikki, rubbing her sore bottom. The kwami unapologetically giggled.

"Don't scare me like that," Marinette said, slightly annoyed but mostly amused. It was hard to stay mad for more than a second at the cute demigod.

"Well, go on! Open it up!"

Marinette crawled forward and eyed the box. Even the wrapping paper seemed high-end. Just what was Chat thinking?

Carefully, she pulled the ribbons off and unfolded the paper. What lay inside made her freeze up – and for her insides to explode with warmth and butterflies- at the same time.

A thirty-six pack of Copic sketch markers.

 **can yall guess what the third layer of alya's present was ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) tell me your thoughts in the reviews heheheheh**


	48. Little Kim

**dump**

 **STARTING ART FOR MLB ON TUMBLR AEREQUETS :0 i did like one notice me :-:**

 **anyways;;; highschool began and its**

 **okay actually**

 **~Just what is Marinette's and Kim's mysterious friendship?!~**

"Wow, look at my face in this one!" Rose exclaimed. Marinette took the liberty of zooming in to Rose's face in the class photo and everyone that was crowded around the table laughed at the expression Rose was making in the picture.

"I didn't know you were capable of a triple chin, Rose," Juleka chuckled softly. Alix grinned and held her fist up, which Rose bumped against her own.

"You're super hardcore, that's for sure," Alix said, then turned to Marinette. "Did you get the one where I threw four tapioca balls in the air and caught them in my mouth?! That was too cool, wasn't it?"

Alya laughed, switching the picture on her phone. In it was Alix craning her head up, mouth wide open and tongue sticking out, as four tapioca balls flew towards her mouth in an arc. In the background was a salty-looking Kim.

"Only after failing so many times. And you were so insistent just because Kim was proud of getting three."

Alix puffed her chest out proudly. "I can't let that big doofus outdo me!"

"Hey!" Kim indignantly said. "For your information, it wasn't even that hard to do. I just caught them in my mouth for child's play. If you think four was impressive, you really are a noob!"

"Oh yeah?! At what?!"

"At everything concerning me!"

"TRY ME!"

Max shook his head. "According to the statistics of all their arguments prior, this one will be going on for about a good six minutes straight."

Mylene sighed. "And they were acting like such good buddies yesterday, too."

The day before, everyone in the class (except for the two- you know who's who were currently grumbling in their own little corner) had gone out together for some bubble tea. Of course, all the shenanigans that came with the territory were not left behind, and nothing stopped Marinette from fawning over Adrien as she almost choked on her tea. Or Adrien himself almost crying tears of joy over the food. Or Alya taking an alarmingly large amount of photos (hence all the pictures they were looking at now). Or Rose demanding the pinkest drink, or Max calculating the temperature dropping rate, or- the list could just go on and on and on.

"But, you know, I'm noticing a trend here," Alya scrutinized the pictures as she swiped through another dozen. "I didn't know these two were such good friends!"

"Huh? Who?" Adrien asked, moving over next to Alya and Marinette. The latter put all of her energy into not squealing.

"Look," Alya said, pointing at the picture. "Marinette and Kim!"

Marinette snapped out of her fangirl mode and peered at the pictures Alya was showing Adrien. One picture featured Adrien and Nino sipping their teas together, but in the background, Marinette and Kim seemed to be chatting about something, their heads thrown back in laughter. In another picture, Marinette and Kim had exchanged drinks and tasted the other's. In a third, Kim was putting up bunny ears behind an unsuspecting Marinette's head.

"Huh," Kim said. Marinette yelped as she realized the taller boy had been looking at the pictures over their shoulders the whole time. "You look even shorter in these pictures, Marinette."

"Hey!" Marinette glared up at him. "To be fair, your drink was disgusting."

"Yours had too much sugar!"

"Who even gets the honeydew flavor?"

"It's _mild!_ Nobody seems to understand that!"

Marinette opened her mouth to retort, but paused. Alya and Adrien, not to mention a good number of the other kids, were staring at them. "What?"

"What do you mean, _what?"_ Nino spoke up. "You guys are, like, total bros? Is there a backstory to this or is it just because you're both Asian?"

"Wow," Kim and Marinette said at the same time in a deadpan tone. Alya marched up to Kim and poked a finger to his chest in mock threat.

"If you're trying to steal _my_ best friend here then you'll regret it!"

Marinette laughed. "Calm down! We've actually known each other for a pretty long time." Marinette suddenly gasped. "That reminds me! My mom recently found this old album, and-" Marinette hauled her backpack up on her desk to dig through it. "I took pictures on my phone of every single one. Where is my phone? It was from preschool…"

"PRESCHOOL?!" Kim suddenly blurted. Everyone gave a start and stared at him. The boy rushed forward to Marinette and snatched her backpack away, holding it high over his head.

"You're not thinking of _showing_ them, are you?!" He cried in distress. "I won't let you!"

"That's my bag!" Marinette said, irritated. "Besides, it's not that big a deal. All little kids change over time!"

"What sort of secret is this?" Max asked, jumping up. "Is it really that much a difference?"

"Oh, believe it," Marinette snorted. "He was a completely different kid."

"SHE'S LYING!" Kim loudly said over Marinette, falsely laughing. Alix raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't want us to see," she slowly said.

"I could tell," Adrien spoke up. "So… here." He removed his arm form behind his back and handed Marinette her phone. The girl gaped.

"Wh-bu-how-!" Several other kids balked as they realized what a good thief he'd make. It was as if he'd slipped in, or sent in something small to retrieve it!

Adrien grinned. "I'm a bit curious too. I guess we'd all like to see what kind of kid Kim used to be, especially because of his… _intense_ reaction."

Kim groaned and dropped Marinette's bag back onto the table, slumping down into a chair.

"Fine, get it over with," he mumbled, chin in hand. Alya smirked.

"I'm sort of expecting something super juicy," she said. "Was he a horrible kid? Getting paint everywhere?"

"Or something that Kim would be ridiculously ashamed about," Nathaniel said. "Being chubby."

"Ooh, that's true," Rose said, jumping up and down. "But chubby kids are so cute!"

"Maybe he got on the teacher's nerves?"

"Or he was super short!"

"I bet since he always brags about his running, everyone was annoyed by him."

"Or he made too many dares and nobody wanted to play!"

Marinette giggled, opening up her camera roll. "None of those, actually. Here, look." Everyone leaned in to look at Marinette's screen. A bunch of little kids were herded underneath a tree at a park, many missing front teeth, wearing hair clips, and donning clothing smudged with marker ink and dirt. The park was dappled with sunlight.

"Aww, is that you, Marinette?" Rose cooed, pointing to a little girl in the front. The four-year-old version of Marinette stood there proudly, grinning and showing off both tooth gaps, with a head of messy hair, yet the same striking blue eyes. Marinette sighed.

"I forgot that I'd be in for the embarrassment, too."

"But you were a cute kid," Adrien said, leaning forward to look at the picture better. Marinette's heart skipped a beat and the phone almost slipped out of her hand.

"Wait, so where's Kim?" Ivan asked. "I don't see any loud or outgoing kids. Or even any rowdy ones in the background."

"That's the thing," Marinette said, grinning evilly at Kim, who was still sitting at the other table. The boy simply glared at her in betrayal.

Marinette zoomed in to herself. "Look at the boy to my right," she said, and everyone gasped.

"Th-THAT'S KIM?!" Max shouted. A young boy, about the same height as Marinette, was shyly looking up, with brown hair flopping over his eyes. His hands were respectfully _clasped_ in front of him and he was one of the only kids with clean clothes on.

"WHAT?!" Alya shouted. "WHAT IS THIS?!"

"WHY DOES HE LOOK LIKE A CUTE KID?!" Nino said, equally as loud.

"HE LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THOSE ANIME KIDS!"

"LIKE A YOUNG TODOROKI!"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!"

"Nothing _happened_ to me," Kim snapped from the table over. Everyone looked over to him, then, much to Kim's irritation, kept glancing between the picture and him. "I just found out that I belonged in the fields and was much cooler than everyone else! That's all."

"You seemed so nice, though," Alix said. "Before I'd have had no problems with kicking you in the shins, but after looking at this kid, I'd feel so bad. Especially because you looked so cute."

"With the growth in height, and the extra muscle, and change in hair and attitude, you're like a whole new person," Adrien said, eliciting many hums of agreement. "If you had grown up like this, I imagine a lot more girls would have crushes on you."

"What are you talking about? I'm totally a ladies man!"

Alix exploded with laughter. "Yeah, when pigs fly!" She chortled. "That was a good joke if I ever heard one!"

"OI!"

"So you and Kim were friends back in preschool," Adrien said to Marinette while in the background Alix and Kim bickered. Marinette gave a little 'eep!' and nodded rapidly.

"Y-Yeah. Back then, I was-" Marinette cringed. "I was way too talkative. And probably borderline irritating. So I guess I became fast friends with everyone, including the resident shy kid." marinette paused, then laughed. "Even if he didn't want to."

"No, I think everyone wanted to be friends with you since you're so outgoing," Adrien said, smiling. Marinette could _feel_ the blood pumping to her cheeks. "They were lucky to make friends with someone like you, you know? I know I am."

"O-Oh, uh, I lucky! Me am! Am I! I mean- er- I'm lucky too! Not to be friends with me, because I'm not, I mean that's a lonely, I mean- YOU! I'm lucky to be friends… with you," Marinette finished, slumping at her total failure. And she'd been doing fine for the past ten minutes, too. Adrien just laughed.

"Thanks, Marinette."

She peeked up at him through her lashes. "No problem."

"No, I really mean it," he said, gaining a confused look from her. He looked out at the bickering mass of Kim, Alix, Alya, Nino, and Max, who were being watched by the other exasperated students. "I feel like you helped me make a lot more friends here. So…thanks."

Marinette stared at him for a few seconds, then looked out to the rest of their friends as well. Unbeknownst to her, a soft smile graced her features, one that Adrien took notice of.

"Yeah."

 **bnha ref ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 **google young Todoroki to see how lil Kim probably looked. I just find it funny that he could have been this uber shy kid, lol!**


	49. Snow White with the Blue Eyes

**ITS SO HOT**

 **107 DEGREES? SUNNYAVLE NO. SUNNYVALE STOP. :(**

 **ALSO sorry this took so long. school sucks. so does writers block. UGHHHHHH high school is just so bland and repetitive I have no motivation whatsoever =,= and I only finished my third week out of four years. dammit**

 **ANYWAYS I WAS LIKE OMG AKAGAME NO SHIRAYUKIHIME AU I just thought of it but I'l l quickly be uploading a SPY AU after this so look forward to that cus I wrote about 99 percent of it but then I had this idea and was like GOOTTTA DO THIS ONE LOL**

 **Ok yeah here we go**

 **WAIT! Also, I changed up Theo's character here, but in the real anime the character he's supposed to be really changes- from being an** _ **asshole**_ **to a friend. So even though I don't harbor anything against Theo, he's gonna seem like a real asshole here LMAO**

 **~Snow White with the Blue Eyes! (A nice long chapter for yalls) ~**

Marinette could feel the dread in the pit of her stomach crawling up her neck as she stared down at the letter clenched in her hand. Yes, the paper was very fine quality, the kind that she'd only dream of sketching on, and it was closed with a seal of the most expensive wax, and the smooth ink was written into cursive words beautiful to look at, but-

They became less beautiful when read.

There wasn't anything glamorous about any of this other than the outward appearance.

 _You have been summoned to the Barbot castle tomorrow sharp at high noon. Prince Theo has considered taking you as his concubine. Take consideration and dress appropriately. You are lucky to have received such an offer. Any resistance will be futile._

The dread in her stomach slowly gave way to rage, causing her shaking fingers to clench around the parchment. How _dare_ that no good fool of a prince-!

Marinette took a deep breath to settle her mind and simmering rage, setting the letter down on her workshop counter. A determined expression set upon her face as she looked around, mentally making note of everything she had to do. The sun was still high in the sky; she could finish all of her commissions by sunset, pack all the money and essentials she had, and high-tail it out of the place in the midst of night.

Dangerous, yes, but there was no way she would just give in with a smile like a pretty little doll and be taken to that _fool's_ castle. Especially to _marry_ him.

And she knew why the letter was even sent, why the Prince of the land had gone sifting through millions of names to find a commonplace tailor like her and offer a marriage proposal. Offer- more like force upon.

It was because of her eyes.

All the people who came into her shop kept telling her how beautiful her bluebell eyes were, how they were a sight for sore eyes, how eye-contact with her would brighten their day. Heck, some had even gone so far as to visit her shop just to look at her eyes. In the beginning she found it kind of odd, but had quickly learned that all the people in the Barbot lands were good-natured and meant no harm. And, well, it helped her designing business, too! No complaints there.

In the time and age she was in now, any eye color other than the standard dark, dark brown was seen as an oddity- a rarity. Blue eyes were even rarer than green ones; and within those, blue eyes which weren't dark were _even less likely._ She'd heard some rumors that the Princess of the neighboring Bourgeois lands had striking blue eyes, but then again, rich people found all kinds of ways to change how they looked. Marinette had seen her parading through the streets once in a fancy horse carriage to make a deal with the Barbots, and instantly a twinge of irritation had flared through her. Something about the girl just annoyed her to no end, and it wasn't just the artificial-looking blue eyes she fluttered at every boy she deemed "worthy".

And so, Prince Theo- notorious for liking pretty things as a fellow artist, and always getting what he wanted- now wanted Marinette by his side. A pretty trophy.

Well, not today! Resistance will be futile? Ha!

Marinette tied an apron around her waist and immediately got to work, pulling out fabrics and dyes from her cabinets and sewing them together at a pace she'd never sown before. Even though she was going to run away, her clients didn't deserve any of this, especially when they'd already paid. She wasn't going to become a thief today and run off with the money they'd given her for commissions without finishing her job.

"A purple evening gown for Mme. Chamack," Marinette murmured, spreading the deep violet cloth out and cutting it. She took out another separate bolt of blue silk and cut into that as well. "Another doll for Manon." Yellow satin. "Mythological tapestry for Mr. Kubdel."

On and on this process went for hours, until Marinette had finished every one of her thirteen projects. The sun dipped down in the sky. She wiped sweat off of her brow and her dye-stained hands on her apron, proudly eyeing her work. Had it been under better circumstances, she'd dance in joy at her progress.

Carefully, Marinette placed name tags on each of the finished projects, each one containing a smaller apology at the bottom. She sighed, looking out the window to her workshop. The sky outside was dipped in deep oranges, purples, and pinks, the same ones that inspired her to be a tailor. The Barbot lands had the most beautiful views no matter where you went.

A frown tugged at the girl's face as she walked forward and placed a hand on the cool glass. "This is the last time I'm going to see you," she said into her quiet and empty workshop. She loved her home. It wasn't fair that she had to do this.

But she did, that was fact, and moping would do nothing about it. The same determination coursing through her again, Marinette pulled out a large knapsack from one of her cabinets and stuffed it with all the essential things she could find around her little shop. While she dearly wanted to bring all of her fabrics with her, there were just too many, and it'd slow her down. She opted on just bringing her basic sowing kit and her favorite shade of green silk. The girl paused in the middle of her packing and lit a candle when the room turned too dark from the setting of the sun, causing a soft orange glow to highlight her little shop.

In went all of her savings, a canteen of water, and a bag of nuts. The way she was going to travel, she'd need to keep her energy up. Riding at the back of a wagon wouldn't exactly ensure top-class catering.

Marinette dusted her hands off, sighing. Her pack was stuffed to the brim, a healing kit putting on more added weight. She called it her Miraculous cure. While she didn't pursue medicine, many people had made it a point that she definitely could have. Her Miraculous cure could quickly heal any sort of bruise, cut, fever- anything physical at all. When people asked her how it was made, Marinette always smiled and said "magic". She might need it on the trip- who knew?

Marinette closed up the leather sack and reached over in one of her cabinets again, this time much more vacant than before, and pulled out her hoodie. It was red with black spots. While it wasn't an ideal color for most people who'd, well, _run away,_ it was dear to her. She'd wear this to keep from the cold- and to hide her eyes.

Marinette slipped the hoodie over her head and looked over her shop one last time. The worn down sewing machine; the cushy seats at the front; the wooden floorboards, homey cabinets, and glowing yellow lights. The same shop her parents had helped her open up years ago. The same shop which her patrons frequented, in and out, and where the customers she was on more personal terms with had thrown her a surprise birthday party last year. The memories danced around her shop as if she was reliving them. She'd remember it all.

Marinette began to leave, but started as another idea entered her mind. Hurriedly rushing back into her shop and reaching into a drawer for one of the white silks she was going to abandon, along with a bluebell dye, Marinette set on coloring the cloth one last time.

It was nearing midnight when Marinette finished her work. She folded up the cloth that matched the color of her eyes and set it apart from the commissions on her table, tying a red bow around it with a snarky note on it.

 _For the Prince. The color you love, by your side forever._

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"Hello? Anybody there?" Marinette peered into the large home through one of the windows, knocking two more times. She could barely make out the silhouette of a staircase through the darkness, but that was it as far as she could tell. The inside of the house was completely dark. It could be the fact that the homeowners were asleep, or maybe the house was empty altogether. In any case, she wasn't getting in. The girl irritably sighed and plopped down on the grass outside, against one of the walls. Judging from the position of the moon in the sky, dawn was near. She could get a few hours of rest, and then figure it out in the morning. After all, she did deserve to rest; a four hour ride on the back of a wagon was tiring.

Marinette took her knapsack off of her back and snuggled up against it, yawning. Yes, that seemed like a good plan. Morning… it could wait until morning… and she did deserve it…

Sleep took her fast.

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Marinette groaned as sharp, bright rays invaded her eyes, poking and prodding. She turned her head away and was only met with more sunlight. As if on cue, a bunch of birds started chirping, too. Usually she found it endearing but now she was wishing the feathered devils would just shut up.

The chirping grew louder, the sunlight brighter, and Marinette suddenly became aware of a hard wall at her back and a cramp in her neck. Groaning again, she pushed herself off the brick wall and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, cracking her mouth open in a yawn. As she opened her eyes, she was met with what she couldn't see the night before due to the darkness. She seemed to be in the middle of a forest, resting against the wall of a house- a fairly large house, at that. Even though it was probably empty, it seemed well maintained. The forest itself was lush, bursting with different shades of green, and the chirping birds were there fluttering amongst trees along with more silent butterflies and bees.

Marinette was stretching when a voice suddenly shouted out from above, causing her to gasp and scramble around to see what it was. A second thought in the midst of the shock reminded her to whip her hood up over her eyes.

"Jeez, do you have to go from such a spot!" The voice shouted again just as a boy launched himself off the roof of the house. That was when she saw his eyes.

Emerald. A striking color. Just like the color of the silk she'd packed- maybe even bolder. And, despite jumping off of a roof, the boy did it as though he had practice, like he'd done it many times before. He wore clothing that was obviously expensive to her sharp tailor's eye, even though it was scuffed up in places and the sleeves were haphazardly rolled up. His hair was wild, blonde locks all over the place, and was only getting wilder as the wind from his jump ruffled it up more. On his face he wore a confident, carefree grin, showing perfectly straight and white teeth. He turned his head towards where she presumed was his landing spot.

…Where she was sitting.

Marinette gasped and scrambled back, but the boy twisted in midair anyways, landing on the ground a few feet away from her on his arm with a painful thud. She winced from where she was sitting. The boy immediately sat up in a catlike, comical (she felt bad for feeling sort of amused, really she did) crouch and clutched his right wrist.

"Ow…" he groaned. From around the side of the house came two dark-skinned people, one boy and one girl. They were both wearing glasses and high-quality clothing as well. The girl had bouncing scarlet curls and the boy, in turn, had a red hood on top of his head that was set back.

The boy with the red hood ran forward first, standing over the green-eyed one. "Are you injured? Did you hit your head? What's one plus one?!"

"Eleven," the green-eyed one groaned back. Then he blinked. "Huh? Who are you?"

The one with the red hood fell to his knees, pointing at his face. "IT'S ME! NINO!"

The girl with the scarlet locks snickered. "So that's your name?"

"ARE YOU FOR REAL ALYA?!"

Marinette jolted as she realized this was her chance. While the three of them were busy, er, _conversing,_ she pulled her spotted hood down a little lower over her eyes and attempted to crawl away.

Key word being _attempted._

The green-eyed one suddenly turned his head and pinned her down with his one eyed stare. "Well?" She paused in her crawling.

"Who are you?" He swung up his sheathed sword, one she didn't notice before, over his shoulder blades with his left hand. "What are you doing so deep in the forest, hmm?"

Marinette sat up and waved her hands in front of her, trying to think of a plausible excuse. "Uh- I was just, following an unused road while running away-" Running away? _You just had to mention that, Marinette!_ "-uh, and I got lost!" She awkwardly laughed and tried to discreetly pull her hood down over her eyes.

Key word being _tried._

The boy took notice and situated the tip of his sheathed sword under the edge of her hood before- _nononononononono_ \- throwing it back over her head.

She blinked and looked up at him. He and his two companions looked surprised to say the least.

"Your eyes," he said, completely and utterly straightforward. "They're light blue."

She looked down. "Yeah. I know." She peeked up again and saw that his right forearm had a large, angry red mark on it. "Your right arm! It's hurt!"

He looked down to his arm with an air of indifference. "So what?"

Marinette pulled her knapsack towards herself and began rummaging around in it, looking for her Miraculous cure. While she didn't initially plan on using any of it on an overconfident boy, it was her fault he got hurt in the first place. "I have a poultice," she explained as she moved fabric around. "It can help a bruise like that…"

"No thanks."

Marinette blinked, pausing in her rummaging. "What?"

The boy pointed his sword at her, still sheathed. The morning light bounced off of it. "How can I trust you so easily? It could be poison for all I know. I have no real business with you."

Marinette narrowed her eyes. "Right…"

He lowered his sword just a fraction of an inch. "If you understand, then you should get going."

Marinette looked back to her sack, eyes still narrowed. Supposedly there were cocky people everywhere. But still…

Marinette grabbed the end of his sword, startling him. "Wha-"

With resolve simmering in her blue eyes, she pulled on the sheathed sword and brought it down on her own arm, hard. Immediately the skin turned an angry red and the pain pulsated throughout her arm. However, Marinette simply gritted her teeth and, with shaky hands, opened her Miraculous cure bag.

The green eyed boy and his two companions watched on in surprise as she spread the poultice on a bandage before laying it on her wound. She held her arm up for them to see and donned a smug smirk.

"Sorry, but I don't make a habit of carrying poison around. Had a rough experience before?"

The boy dropped his sword.

Not more a second later, both his companions burst out into laughter. The girl wiped a tear from her eye. "She sure got you good, eh Adrien?"

Adrien. So she wouldn't have to think of him as green-eyed boy anymore, what a relief.

Adrien himself chuckled a little, eyes smiling too, and then crouched down in front of her, sighing in relief.

"Sorry about that. I _have_ had rough experiences, you could say. My name's Adrien."

Marinette blinked, already having deduced this for herself. "My name's Marinette."

Adrien held up his injured arm in front of her as if for greeting, causing her to reel back a bit. "Nice to meet you! You sort of owe me a patch up, though."

Marinette gave him a deadpan stare. "Phrase it differently next time."

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As Marinette worked on bandaging his arm, Adrien talked. They'd gone inside the house and sat in the living room. It was nicely furnished, with a colorful rug, a quaint fireplace, and two large chairs seated across a coffee table as well as a sofa near the back. All the furniture had bright, bolder colors and the inside of the house had warm lights. Marinette was correct about there being a staircase; it led up to a room she had yet to see.

"This house is unoccupied, but we come here often," he explained, then used his free hand to gesture behind him where his companions were sitting playing chess. "The one losing the game is Nino. Alya is soundly beating him."

Marinette raised her eyebrows. He was completely right, but didn't even look behind him.

Nino voiced her very thoughts. "H-How do you know for sure if you didn't look at our game?"

Marinette watched in amusement as an all-knowing grin formed on Adrien's face. "I just know." Nino huffed while Alya laughed at him.

"All right, done," Marinette said, letting go of Adrien's arm. The boy held it up and looked it over, raising his eyebrows.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this, Marinette!" he said, surprising her a little. Usually people messed up her name, or shortened it altogether since apparently it was too hard to say: Mari, Marien, Mariet, Marine- she'd gone through it all.

"Well, it's not my profession, but someone told me how to make this who was really good at healing," she said, remembering Tikki with a smile. She'd left a few years back to do castle work- that much Marinette knew, but she didn't remember the name of the lands Tikki was traveling to. They'd departed with lots of hugs and smiles and good memories.

"I see," Adrien said. His gaze switched from his arm to her. "So why did you run away from home?"

Marinette's eye twitched. Of course this guy had to remember that detail. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "It doesn't matter," she said, choosing not to look at him. "I'm going for a walk."

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Marinette looked up at the sky as she walked with her left arm lightly clasped around her injured forearm. It really was a nice day. The path she walked on was riddled with fallen leaves from the trees around her. Wildlife pulsated everywhere, from the chirping birds to the jumping rabbits to the faint breeze. Marinette looked over her shoulder with a mild seedling of annoyance.

"Why'd you follow me?"

Adrien was walking behind her, casually looking off in every other direction. He shrugged. "I can't let an injured girl go into the forest by herself. It's not gentle-meown-ly."

Marinette groaned. "Seriously? You make cat puns? I feel like you make lots, with how smoothly that came out…"

Adrien grinned, unbeknownst to Marinette. "I have a tie to cats, I guess. But this place is a lot different from the town, so I'm more relaxed."

Marinette nodded, leaning back against a tree. "I know what you mean. The air is different." Marinette then gave him a sly smile. "You just revealed your honest feelings, didn't you?"

At Adrien's reddening face, she laughed. "How cute." Her laugh was immediately cut off with a hiss of annoyance as she tried to move forward and was roughly yanked back.

Adrien walked over to her side and observed what had happened. A jagged piece of bark had thoroughly snagged her hoodie from a few loose stitches, causing a tangled mess.

"Your hood is stuck," he said, and Marinette sighed.

"I guess I didn't check to sow it up before leaving," Marinette said. "Sorry, but can you cut it for me?" At Adrien's confused glance, she added, "It's okay if it tears. I can sow it again."

Adrien was about to oblige, but blinked and beamed as he saw a golden opportunity. He hopped back and looked into Marinette's bluebell eyes.

"I will, if you tell me why you ran away," he teased. Marinette gaped.

"You're not looking like a great person right now. I hope you know."

Adrien simply shrugged and grinned wider.

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"He ordered you to _what?!"_

Marinette clenched her fists on her lap as she sat on the overgrown tree root next to Adrien.

"Become his concubine," she dryly repeated. "And for a boy who grew up eating silver coins, he always gets what he wants. He wanted to keep the color of my eyes next to him." Marinette clenched her fists tighter. "If I let him have his way, it'd be like he was buying a pretty colored cloth from the market."

"Marinette-"

"So," Marinette continued, standing up and looking back at Adrien. His eyes were slightly widened, completely matching the color of the forestry around him despite being dappled in mild sunlight. "I left a piece of dyed cloth behind to hopefully make him tire of me."

Adrien blinked and then burst into laughter, slapping his knee. He looked up again and grinned at her, not bothering to swipe away the multiple locks of hair between his eyes. She fought down the urge to do so.

"That was great!" He said cheerfully as he got up. "A good way to teach a pompous brat a lesson. It is your blue, after all."

Marinette followed him with her eyes as he walked forwards, confused. "My blue?"

"Well, yeah," Adrien said, looking up at the vibrant sky. "Blue represents truth, right? You'll find your right way because of the blue that seems annoying right now." He looked back at her with a cheeky grin. "Besides, there's no point in stealing a true blue."

Marinette gaped at him, astonished. "I thought you were just arrogant- but that's an amazing way of thinking!"

Adrien sweat dropped. "Is that respect, or not…?"

From a couple of yards away, comfortably nestled in their own trees, Alya and Nino watched on.

"She's not suspicious after all, huh?" Alya said, smiling at the sight. Nino also smiled, petting a rabbit in his lap.

"Not only that- Adrien seems to really like her."

"Mm."

Adrien and Marinette were walking towards the house together when the former noticed something, narrowing his eyes and running forwards. Marinette confusedly followed him, until she saw what was on the doorstep of the house. The same feeling of dread from before suddenly chilled her bones.

A basket sat on the doorstep, something inside it covered with a rich purple cloth. A red bow was tied around the handle.

"That's- that's the bow I tied the cloth with!" Marinette said as Adrien picked up the basket. Dread formed a lump in her throat as the wind gently lifted the purple cloth off of the basket, revealing expensive silks piled up inside with several yellow roses.

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"So you came from the Barbot lands?" Adrien asked as he read the letter that came with the basket. Marinette absently unwrapped and rewrapped the ribbon around her palm and nodded.

"The person who sent this somehow tracked you from all the way across the border," Adrien pointed out as he waved the letter in the air. "He seems pretty spiteful to me."

Marinette forced out a laugh despite the dread she felt. "Right?"

"Don't laugh, this is serious!" Adrien said, leaning forward. "Was it so bad that you had to cross the border?"

Marinette looked down at the red ribbon resting in her palm and back to the basket of silks. A blue colored one rested on top. "Well, it's because of who he is…" At Adrien's prompting silence, she sighed. "It was Prince Theo-"

Adrien choked, lurching forward and slamming a hand on the table between them. "Th-Theo?! That- that… royal idiot?!"

"Yeah. Rumors of him spread to other countries, too?" Marinette sighed.

Adrien sat back in his chair, bristling. "He probably sifted through all the border crossing records just to find you."

Marinette looked down at her lap. "He'd go so far… no way…"

"He probably thinks you're his already," Adrien said.

Marinette swallowed a lump in her throat and reached forward for one of the pieces of cloth. The dye was exquisite. Tikki had shown her this kind before- it had a distinct scent which had people paying extra for it. But at the same time, this piece of silk was fraying at the edges.

"It's fraying," Marinette murmured. "Even though the dye is the expensive scented type, nobody will want this blue…"

Marinette gave a start when Adrien got up and walked over to her, taking her hand with the cloth in it in his own, encircling her wrist. Her eyes widened as he buried his nose in the soft cloth, inhaling. "Adrien…?"

"How rude," Nino called from the staircase, having long since given up at chess. Adrien choked and jumped away from the cloth. "If you wanted a sniff so badly you should have gotten one for your own."

"I-I didn't call to you!" Adrien spluttered as he marched up to Nino. "Stay out of it!"

"Ouch, dude!"

"Adrien!"

"What?" He asked, sharply turning around. Marinette stood there, looking at the cloth in conviction.

"Sorry. I said something stupid," she said, and Adrien's face immediately softened. And then his brows furrowed.

"Marinette… don't sniff the cloth," he said, and Marinette blinked in confusion.

"What-?"

Adrien abruptly swayed and fell to his knees, pitching forward. Alya and Nino leaped over the stairs and caught him before his head could hit the ground.

Marinette's eyes widened and she hurriedly rubbed the cloth on her bandaged arm. Just as she suspected, a light bluish substance rubbed off onto the white bandage that most definitely was not dye.

"It's poisoned!"

Alya's head snapped to hers, her hands currently cradling Adrien's head. "What?! Do you have an antidote?"

Marinette thought back to her knapsack, panic slowly filtering her system. "N-Not for inhalations-"

"Oh," a new voice said, and three heads in the room snapped to the front door where an unfamiliar man stood. "Miss Marinette was not the one who sniffed the cloth?"

"Who are you?!" Marinette spat, keeping no amount of venom from entering her voice. The monotonous man turned his head to regard her.

"I am Prince Theo's guard," he said. "Do not worry. I have an antidote." Marinette jerked back as he met her eyes again, this time with some sort of victory. "I trust you will come with me?"

Marinette took one look back at Adrien lying on the ground and clenched her teeth, glaring back at the man.

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The horse ride's luxuriousness couldn't hide the hateful atmosphere Marinette made sure she was putting up, but if thought what she was emitting back then was a hateful aura, she'd laugh now.

"So you're Marinette? I see," Theo said as he looked at her from every angle as if she were cloth at a market. She stood stock still, her shoulders squared and her eyes burning. "I'm surprised," Theo continued. "The cloth you left behind was the same exact color!" He walked around her once more and then towards his chair a little ways ahead of her, in front of two large windows which were doors leading out to a balcony. The room was large and with plenty of light, the windows behind Theo having rich red curtains. A table was placed next to his chair, containing a bowl of fruits and a box of something else she didn't know of as well.

"Um, what about the antidote for my friend?" Marinette asked, and Theo held a hand up.

"Hang on a sec!" He turned around and sat down in his chair, crossing his legs and leaning an elbow on the table. "See, offering a proposal and being rejected is humiliating for any man," he began. "For me, even more so! Public rating has dipped for me." Theo dramatically sighed and turned in his chair, placing the back of his hand on his forehead. "So, to bring the ratings back up, I'd have to have you become my concubine."

Marinette froze in place, no thanks to the chill that suddenly invaded her body. She narrowed her eyes. "What about the antidote?" She pressed on, and Theo waved his hand.

"Oh, I can have it delivered to him easy if you just say yes," he said, and then pulled the box from the table. He unlatched it and picked up a piece of blue silk from the inside, letting it hang from his two pinched fingers. "Or should I send him this instead?"

Theo reached for the cloth with his other hand and easily teared it from the other end, letting go of the two ragged pieces and letting them flutter down to the ground. Marinette shakily followed them with her eyes, fists clenching in rage.

' _Blue represents truth, right? You'll find your right way because of the blue that seems annoying right now. Besides, there's no point in stealing a true blue.'_

Some path she'd found.

Theo walked forwards and she could tell he was looking at her eyes, even as she looked at the ground. He reached out with one hand and angled her face so he could see better.

"For me, I know your eyes are very pretty," he said with a smile. "So you'll stay in my sight."

Marinette stared up at him and clenched her teeth in resolve. Closing her eyes, she slapped his hand away roughly, causing him to keel back. He stumbled, but found his footing. "Wh-what-!"

"Fine, Prince Theo," she said his name like a sneer. She finally opened her eyes and glared at him viciously, inwardly cheering when she saw him sweating. "Take me if you dare."

A muffled commotion outside caused both of the parties to look towards the door.

"Hey! Hold on-!"

A couple of clashing sounds later, the doors suddenly bursted open, causing Prince Theo to jump back. In the doorway stood Adrien with his sheathed sword.

"I BEG TO DIFFER!"

Marinette floundered, her mouth opening and closing like a fish's. "A-Adrien!"

"Why, you-!" The same emotionless guard from before now, lo and behold, _angrily_ unsheathed his sword and lunged at Adrien. Said boy simply narrowed his eyes and smoothly blocked without unsheathing his sword, sidestepping the man and knocking his feet out from under him with one strong stroke. The guard fell and landed towards two other guards, unconscious under Alya and Nino.

"Would you stop making such dirty jokes?" Adrien said, glaring at the spluttering Theo. Then, to Marinette, he smiled, holding up his arm with the bandage unraveling from it. "Tie this for me?"

Marinette rushed forward. "Wait- what about your body?"

"I've been building up immunity to poison for a while now," he said. "No worries."

"But-"

"I see!" Adrien and Marinette turned to see Theo standing now with his hands at his hips. "So you're the one who accidentally poisoned himself. What a shame," Theo shook his head as Adrien bristled. "I was meaning to immobilize Miss Marinette and take her home."

"So you sent those poisoned cloths," Adrien snapped, and Theo bared his teeth in a snarl.

"Watch how you talk to me! You and I live in different worlds, you should know. I could have you soundly imprisoned."

"Well, I apologize, First Prince Theo of the Barbot lands," Adrien said, beginning to pull out his sword. Marinette watched on in confusion as Alya and Nino moved forward and flanked his sides.

Adrien held out his sword. On the hilt was an elaborate marking with a bold green paw print in the middle. Theo narrowed his eyes. "That crest…?"

"Let me introduce myself. I am Adrien Agreste, Second Prince of the Agreste lands!"

The bold declaration echoed in the room for a few moments before Theo visibly began to freak out.

"Second…" He spluttered. "Prince? _Agreste?"_

Marinette's jaw also dropped. "What?!"

"It's true," Adrien said to Marinette. "But I didn't think the First Prince of the Barbot Lands would try to poison me."

Theo fell out of his chair. "You-! You have no proof that it was me!" He gestured wildly around him. "It could have been anybody!"

Nino narrowed his eyes. "There's plenty of evidence in my eyes."

Alya mirrored Nino's expression. " _We_ could have _you_ soundly imprisoned," she said, imitating his words from before. "And your social status would reach a new all-time low."

Theo was having difficulty breathing. He fell out of his chair and began to scramble backwards when Adrien walked towards him.

"We'll keep your deeds a secret if you agree to leave Marinette alone," Adrien firmly said. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "And never say her name again."

Theo confusedly cocked his head. "How do you know Marinette-"

Adrien swung his sword towards Theo's chest. The prince shrieked and scooted back farther, causing the doors to his balcony to swing open. He fell onto the balcony.

"What did I just say about her name?" Adrien narrowed his eyes.

"Okay, okay!" Theo cried. "I promise, geez!"

Adrien lowered his sword and looked back to Marinette. "Any words you want to say to him before we leave?"

Marinette narrowed her eyes and walked forward, crouching in front of Theo.

"I can sow this for you," she said, holding up the two pieces of the blue cloth he'd torn. Theo gulped and backed against the railing. "It looks like there's a little tear. Also…"

"Wh-what?"

Marinette glared up at him through her bangs. "Hurry up and give Adrien the medicine."

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Adrien tilted his head back as the vial's contents were emptied into his mouth. He swallowed and sighed with relief, setting the vial down.

Before he could utter anything, though, Marinette beat him to it.

"Sorry."

He blinked, surprised. Marinette was standing a couple of feet away from where he was sitting. They'd gone back to the house in the forest, and the setting sun was causing the place to be bathed in an orange glow.

"Huh?"

"I'm grateful you helped me. But at the same time, I just managed to cause you trouble…"

Adrien snorted a little, standing up next to Nino and Alya. "Come on, don't be like that. It wasn't your fault."

Alya nodded, crossing her arms. "It was Adrien's fault for trying to be macho and sniffing the cloth." Adrien spluttered but he went ignored. "Besides, us three-" She gestured to herself, Adrien and Nino. "-we should have been more careful." Nino and Adrien nodded in agreement.

Marinette twisted the cloth of her hood in her hands. "Still…"

Adrien walked over in front of Marinette. She looked up. "You could think of it as trouble, or you could think of this as the path that your blue led you to," he said, and Marinette's expression turned surprised. "This is fate, isn't it? We sure met under the most coincidental circumstances."

Marinette finally smiled at that. Adrien offered her his hand with a smile.

"So, you can come with us?"

Marinette's eyes flickered from Alya, to Nino, to Adrien. They all smiled at her.

It reminded her of her shop. Of her parents. Of Tikki.

Marinette gingerly took his hand.

"Sure."

 **heck if im not continuing this im making a new story yall**


	50. Granola Bar- Terror Series

_**RREEEAAAADDDDD TTTHHHIIIIISSSSS!**_

 **IF YOU LIKED LAST CHAPTER AND WANTED TO SEE A CONTINUATION, I MADE A NEW STORY. CHECK IT OUT!**

 **Phew, now that that's done with-**

 **400 REVIEWS? ARE YALL CRAZY?! (IN A GOOD WAY) IM SO SHOOKETH**

 **Anyways. Ahem. Im done. Ok**

 **~Terror Series part 4? 5? 6? Anyways, two-timing has multiple meanings.~**

"Ugh, I'm so beat," Alya groaned as the class, for the most part, trudged out of the gym to the locker rooms. A few people like Kim, Adrien, and Marinette were utterly chipper even after the torture they'd been put through in gym class. Two minutes of booty kicks, two minutes of sprinting, forty pushups, forty crunches, eighty sit ups, and _then_ intensive one on one badminton games. It was like they were training for a New World or something.

"I like badminton," Marinette cheerfully said. "It's a fun way of using your precision skills."

"You're only saying that because you got an excuse to fire birdies at Chloe," Alya grumbled. "I don't understand how you spike the shuttlecock like that. You got through all of your games in, like, five minutes."

Marinette frowned. "Yeah… wish I hadn't done that. I was playing the boys and I felt like they were going easy on me just 'cause I'm a girl."

"No, you were just beating them all too fast."

"Oh, all except Adrien," Marinette said dreamily, entering her gushing mode. "He was putting up a fair game! It was so fun! I actually fell a few times, that's how hard it was playing against him!"

"That was probably just you tripping over your feet because he was just there…"

"Actually, now that I think about it, I also played Kim, and he was very good too," Marinette added. "I couldn't beat him. His height really offers him an advantage."

"You three were the only ones who enjoyed any of this," Alya groaned. The long, strenuous fifty-yard walk to the girls' locker room was finally over and she shuffled in, throwing off her sweaty clothes with a sigh before she even opened her locker.

Marinette giggled as the other girls trekked in after them, groaning in a similar fashion Alya just had.

"I'm so hungry," a girl sighed as she checked her bag for any food. Alas, it was empty. "I barely had any lunch and today's workout was so intense…"

"Oh, here," Marinette said, gaining her attention. Marinette pulled out a packet with two granola bars in it. "It's not much, but someone gave these to me and I never really ate them… oh, they aren't crumbled, if you're worried about that."

"No, thanks! It's totally fine!" The girl brightly said, accepting the food. Marinette watched with a smile as the girl tore the packet open and-…

And…

And bit both of the bars at once.

The girl curiously looked up in her munching to see Marinette frozen there. She waved her free hand in front of Marinette's face. "Hello? Um… are you okay?"

Marinette blinked and then whirled for her backpack, slugging the left strap over her right shoulder and then stumbling. She tripped and fell before the shot straight up again and sprinted out of the locker room without another word.

"Talk about dramatic," Alya said, breaking the silence.

Alya found that Marinette was hardly the dramatic one when she heard a scream that sounded an awful lot like Adrien come from outside.

 **Just a super short one. It was really for the authors note lol**


	51. Rose with Thorns

**my head is spinning and my nose is stuffy and my body is aching and my teeth are sore and I AM ANGER :-I**

 **(MADE A NEW STORY IF YA MISSED LAST ANNOUNCEMENT CHECK IT OUT MY PROFILE! lol promotion)**

 **So I will project this anger into my story haha oops SORRY but enjoy AND REVIEW! THANKS ALL FOR SO MANY REVIEWS I AM BLOWN AWAY ! :o**

 **~Sometimes even a girl like Rose is grumpy~**

There were things that every person was known for at Francoise Dupont. Sometimes they were bad, but usually they were good. Usually. And out of the students at Francoise Dupont, those in Mme. Bustier's homeroom class were the most notorious for whatever trait they possessed; simply because they were all at least twenty percent insane and everyone knew that.

From Chloe's notorious, well, _snobbiness,_ to Max's notorious brains, everyone just knew. If they were given a quiz on the homeroom class of Mme. Bustier, they'd all get A's for sure.

And if one of the questions on the quiz was about Rose, surely they'd write that she was the ever-cheerful, helpful, and smiling girl in pink. Right?

…

Juleka looked over to the empty seat next to her and frowned, silently questioning whether she should text her friend or not. Heck, even Marinette and Adrien were here today on time. Class was going to begin in four minutes and Rose, the girl who usually was the second student in class (after Max), was nowhere to be seen as everyone else chatted inside the warm and toasty classroom, exchanging bags of roasted chestnuts. Juleka herself had a bag that she was planning to share with Rose, but the girl still hadn't come.

Juleka glanced outside the window, where the sky was dark and dropping its snowflakes onto Paris, coating the entire city in a white glittery sheen. The atmosphere so close to Christmas was so entirely cheerful; she supposed that was why no akumas had been around lately. There were lights on everywhere, one could see in the vintage setting of the Paris streets, in the lights strung across rooftops to the huge Christmas tree smack in the middle of downtown which Ladybug and Chat Noir had decorated together the week prior much to the delight of the Parisian citizens. Huge crowds had gathered, breaths puffing out in little white clouds, as they held cellular devices in their mittened hands to record and watched the superheroes jump off the sides of the buildings and off of rooftops to string lights around the colossal tree and finally work together to get the star on top. Juleka could still recall the deafening roars of the cheering crowds that day.

Maybe Rose was held up in the traffic. The snow could cause some hold up on the streets, right?

There were three minutes left to class and Rose still wasn't there. Marinette took notice of the empty seat next to Juleka and got up, speaking a few words to Alya, Nino, and Adrien whom she was previously talking to, and walking up to Juleka's side. The class president smiled and Juleka couldn't help but to smile back.

"It's odd for Rose to not be here," Marinette said. "Usually I'm the one who's running late." Both of the girls chuckled.

"Did you text her and ask where she is?"

Juleka shook her head. "No, I was thinking that she might be caught up in traffic. But maybe it'd be a good idea to ask… she's usually never late…"

Just then a person walked into the classroom. They weren't particularly tall, quite short actually, and their stature seemed even smaller when it was swallowed up by a huge black jacket. The hood was up and snow was peppered on it, visible like stars in the night sky, and underneath the jacket they wore black leggings and black boots. Everyone in the classroom quieted and stared at the odd newcomer dressed completely in black. Juleka could feel something about this person.

Mme. Bustier turned to the form and noticed a schoolbag by their feet. "Oh, are you in the wrong classroom? Class is starting in two minutes, you should hurry!"

The mysterious figure was still for a few moments before they reached up with their hands (covered with black mittens, of course) and slid their hood off of their head, eliciting a collective gasp from the entire classroom.

" _ROSE?!"_

As if Rose's eyes weren't large enough to begin with, now her owlish eyes seemed even bigger, practically sunken into her face- not with fatigue, but anger? Her hair was also not groomed into the smooth, straight cut it was always brushed into and the shaggy head of hair made Rose seem kind of… scary. Not to mention the fact that she wasn't wearing a drop of pink and instead covered head to toe in black- the color she had _explicitly specified_ to Juleka before that she'd never be seen wearing _dead-_ was also alarming.

"Rose, _dear God,_ what happened to you?!" Alya cried out. Alya's words seemed to be the catalyst and suddenly everyone was bursting forth with questions for Rose, who stayed quiet throughout all of it. Then Chloe spoke.

"So you finally stopped acting all happy and cheerful? Good, you were like a broken doll." Chloe 'hmph'ed. "Although now you're an eyesore. Talk about wanting attention!"

Rose quietly walked up to Chloe's desk and stared at her. Chloe, despite her earlier words, could feel herself shrinking in the gaze of the smaller girl. What the heck?!

Then, in the most nasally, strained, frustrated, and _non-Rose_ voice one could imagine, Rose said, "Not today Chloe."

And both the blondes were quiet for the rest of class.

Well, now Juleka could share her roasted chestnuts with Rose.

 **rose-ted chestnuts… I'll see myself out**


	52. Noticeable

**OMGGG ;-; my updates have slowed to a crawl due to school and lack of ideas. AGH IM so sorry. And Snow White with the Blue Eyes will be taking even longer since the chapter is just so hecking hard to write! Im still formulating the ideas! Please forgive me ;-;**

 **But… anyways… I thought this would be nice, especially after a pretty long time. Something nice and long to compensate. Enjoy!**

 **~Adrien has been noticing lots of things lately.~**

The first thing he noticed was their scent.

And no, it wasn't creepy, it wasn't creepy at all no matter what stupid old Plagg said! So what if he'd…sniffed Ladybug and Marinette somehow on different occasions by chance?

…it sounded a lot worse than it was.

Even though he'd only really smelt Ladybug's scent once, during Animan's attack while they were hiding in the bakery, it was as if that moment turned on a switch for him. Every time they were near, he could explicitly smell her scent. It was probably just the cat senses speaking to him, enhancing his sense of smell. It could very well be out of memory- after all, she always smelled like baked goods and he knew that had to be because when he had first smelled her they were inside of a bakery. It wasn't like she spent every day inside of one.

But Marinette, Marinette was a different case. He never smelled her, not intentionally at least, but the weird old switch in his brain was on, causing him to catch whiffs of- of jasmine and vanilla and _bakery_ whenever he was near her _._ He didn't know why his brain did this to him, and only in Marinette's case.And this time the bakery scent wholly made sense, because everyone knew Marinette lived inside of one, but he couldn't help noticing just how closely Ladybug's and Marinette's scents matched up, how sometimes he'd catch that sweet scent and turn around expecting Ladybug only to see Marinette, or vice versa.

Although, he could never be sure. For some reason Ladybug and Marinette were never in the same place at the same time, so he couldn't compare and contrast...

Once, as Chat Noir, when he was sitting on her balcony all casual with his tail swinging out behind him, he'd asked her what he smelt like to her. Marinette had looked at him like he was crazy- he could see her expression perfectly in the dark- before her face melted into a cheeky grin.

"Jagged Stone."

His head jerked so his eyes could meet hers, wide and unbelieving at the response she just gave. "Did you just say Jagged Stone?"

"Yeah," Marinette shrugged, leaning forward on the metal railing, "I designed his album with a scent sticker." She paused for emphasis. "It smelled like sweat and leather."

She burst into full-blown laughter when he pouted, something she miraculously managed to see in the dark. Or maybe she just knew what expression he was making by heart.

"I'll take it as a compliment that you think I smell like a rockstar..."

…

The second thing he noticed was their hair.

After all, how many teens walked around Paris in pigtails?

But it wasn't like he was making fun of Ladybug's and Marinette's hairstyles- no, of course not. He respected their fashion decisions, if that was what they wanted to wear, then so be it (not to mention they both pulled it off amazingly). He'd pondered, at one point, that Marinette may have been wearing pigtails because she was a Ladybug fan. Lots of people did that, right? But then he remembered that he'd met Marinette before Ladybug, and her hair was pulled into those very same pigtails back then, and then Adrien was back to square one.

It wasn't just the style. It was also the color. Somehow, both of the girls had naturally dark hair with a sort of metallic blue shine… it was something like he'd never seen before. Adrien had seen Marinette's mother before- she'd insisted he call her Sabine- and her hair was also a very unique shade of navy blue. So he knew how Marinette got her special shade. But Ladybug?

Everything about her was a mystery. And now another thing to add onto that mysterious list: all the coincidences she seemed to have with Marinette unknowingly. Maybe they were friends…

With the level of comfort that Chat Noir and Marinette had with each other he headed over one afternoon for no reason other than to just ask about them being friends, at the same time the sun was setting. It took lots of persuading , but Plagg eventually agreed- once he was promised a belly full of Camembert in the near future, that is.

Chat Noir raced across the rooftops, grinning at passerby and sometimes even doing a flip or two just to humor them with some parkour. People were out late, seeing as it was summer and the summer sunsets were always late. His shadow stretched out beneath his feet into the street as the sun dipped lower, looking like a long and sleek cat ready to curl itself around the moon.

Finally he reached his destination and only a few moments after his boots tapped down on the ground, the trapdoor opened, revealing Marinette with a pencil in her hand.

"Chat," she said, looking more surprised than she sounded. "What are you doing here?"

"Just _paw-_ sing in the middle of a run," he said with a Cheshire grin, lips stretching wider when she groaned.

"Stray cat," she muttered, and Chat gasped.

"You know I can hear you, right?"

"Yes," Marinette said, her twitching lips betraying her humor. She climbed out of the trap door and joined him on the balcony, leaning on the railing to watch the sun go to sleep as it painted the sky red.

"So, Princess, I've been wondering," Chat said after a few long minutes of her watching the sun. It'd been quiet, but not uncomfortably so, and he felt sort of weird breaking the silence. "Are you friends with Ladybug?"

From behind her he could see her form suddenly tense, and then she turned around like a creaky robot, all mechanical movements.

"U-Uh…" she drew out. "What made you… how did you even reach that conclusion?"

"I don't know," Chat said, a little embarrassed now that he said it out loud. "Well, she did seem to know you personally when she called to tell me that you'd be helping me with Evillustrator. And you guys wear, like, the same hairstyle," he pointed out and Marinette's hand flew to one of her pigtails. "And also, you seem like you'd be good friends. Just based on your personalities."

"Based on our personalities, huh?" Marinette mused, twirling the pencil between her fingers. "Because we're so different?"

"No, because you're really alike," Chat said, and Marinette looked really surprised at that. He didn't know why. They were both creative, and brave, and admirable-…

He left feeling more confused than before.

…

The third thing he noticed was their creativity. Well, more like love for fashion.

Marinette, of course, she was obvious from day one. He knew about fashion, that sort of came with the trade given the situation he was in, and so he knew that her backpack and shirt and purse had to have been designed by her because those weren't on the market. Then, later on, he saw her sketchbook, and her designs, and her creations- even her room at a couple of points in time- and by then it just became a fact. _The sky is blue. Marinette is great at designing._

Ladybug, well, he couldn't have known because of her mysterious nature, couldn't have known unless they had sat and talked for hours after patrol perched on the Eiffel Tower in the night. Which they did.

Somehow, one thing led to another, and Ladybug was lamenting about her own suit.

"Like, come on!" Ladybug groused. "I'm a _ladybug,_ I could have gotten- I don't know- antennae, or an overcoat thing like the real bugs have, or heck even wings! Okay, that would be for more than just looks, but still," she said. "But- my suit is literally just all red! With black spots, and my yoyo is just wrapped around my waist. And then there's _you,"_ she grumbled, and Chat couldn't help it- he burst out laughing as she continued with her ramble. "You get cool cat ears, cool cat eyes, a bell _\- a bell!_ A zipper, you even have pockets, and you get _gloves_ and _claws_ and a _belt_ and a belt _tail,_ and you get to keep your baton in your belt and your boots have cuffs on them too!" She paused for a split second before exploding, "THEY EVEN HAVE METAL TIPS AND PAW PRINTS ON THE BOTTOM! THE _BOTTOM!"_

By now Chat was laughing so hard he was clutching his ribs. He felt like if he wasn't careful he'd fall off the tower and turn into a cat pancake, but he really couldn't care, it was far too funny. He didn't know that Ladybug had been so jealous! It was too amusing.

"I didn't know you checked me out so much My Lady, you captured every detail," he snickered, grinning wider when Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"It's just that your suit is so cool and mines is so lame," she grumbled. "I'm thinking I should just design something to wear during our fights and patrols. Functional too, of course, but also just so that my suit won't look as bland…"

He forsook his comment of "you'd look good in anything", instead asking with wide eyes as he sat up, "You design?!"

Ladybug blinked, looking sort of at war with herself based on the expressions on her face. She was probably frustrated that she let such a detail slip. "Well, yeah," she finally said. "I… yes. I do."

Chat subconsciously tacked that onto the list of things suspiciously similar between Marinette and Ladybug with a grin.

….

Number four: their jumping to conclusions.

At this point he was used to all of their similarities popping up here and there, like fate trying to dangle some yarn in front of his nose as if he were a cat. Marinette and Ladybug had to be doppelgangers at this point.

However, this similarity between them really had him reeling. But for a sort of… different reason.

Ladybug's tendency to jump to conclusions definitely sprouted from her distrust and distaste for liars. He could tell that much from the Antibug and Volpina incidents. But he hadn't even entertained the idea that Marinette could be just as imaginative, until _that_ sunset.

It was October, so there were Halloween decorations everywhere; and, since Paris was extra with everything they did, there were glowing little ghosts along the streets and on the lights, and there was not a single house seen for blocks which didn't have Halloween décor on it to some decree.

(And, since Paris' heroes were also extra with lots of things they did, there were big glowing pumpkins placed in varying locations on the Eiffel Tower…)

When Chat Noir jumped onto Marinette's balcony, she was already there waiting, wrapped up in a blanket with a mug of something steaming in her hands. Chat would have laughed at how weirdly cliché it was if not for the look of intense concentration on her face.

After a few moments, he said, "Expecting your knight?"

Marinette took a few seconds to reply, "I knew you'd come. And also I was thinking."

Chat blinked at the vague response, feeling like a person awaiting their fortune by a magic ball. When her silence continued, he decided to tread water. "Uh… do tell?"

As a cat, something that should never be done is treading water.

"Do you know Adrien Agreste?" Marinette suddenly blurted out, leaving her vague-like aura behind. Chat jumped, not at her outburst, but at the sound of his name. It was just an instinct when he was in suit, that whenever he heard his name his hairs on the back of his neck stood.

"Uhh, well, how could someone not know who he is?" Chat said, trying his very best to seem like a normal guy who knew who Adrien Agreste was. "He's, like, all over the city… heh…"

Chat cringed. He felt so narcissistic saying that, even though it was just the truth and an honest answer to Marinette's question.

Marinette eyed him for a few moments before sighing into her mug and standing up, leaving the blanket behind. She was in pajamas. A long-sleeved, pink fleece top and pink fleece bottoms with white polka dots. It caught him off guard. But what she said next caught him _way_ more off guard.

"I think Adrien has a crush on you."

Chat actually choked, he choked on his own spit and was very well going to die if Marinette hadn't offered him her mug. He took a sip and blinked as the taste of smooth, sweet chocolate erupted on his tongue. It was warm.

After he'd calmed down, he croaked out, " _What?"_

Marinette hummed and put her fingers to her chin, thinking hard. He felt sort of afraid for her answer- how long had she been contemplating this? And no, he was _not_ so narcissistic that he'd… ugh… Plagg would never shut up about this one.

"Okay, well, let me break this down. After the time I helped you with Evillustrator, Adrien showed up at my locker. He asked me how it was like working with you… and then he spoke about how cool and awesome you were. That's number one."

Chat sweated. He hadn't seen that coming, but now that Marinette had said it out loud, he realized that any normal person could come to a conclusion like the one she had. _Crap!_ Why had he even done that? He still couldn't understand his own actions from that day.

"Well, most of the times after that are smaller and similar, but then there's also the fact that he always shies away from Chloe, who is a girl…"

"That could just be because she's _Chloe,"_ Chat blurted out without meaning to. Marinette stared into his eyes and he felt like she was taking him apart piece by piece. But then Marinette suddenly nodded with an understanding look on her face.

"Yes, that could be. But still, I think he does have a crush on you." Marinette breathed out a little laugh before laughing all out. "No wonder he's such a nice and amazing guy!"

Chat ignored the warmth that erupted when she described him as _nice_ and _amazing_ and instead floundered to patch things up. Well, as best he could as Chat Noir.

"U-Uh, no, wait, I think you have it all wrong," Chat managed to laugh out. "He- no, he's just-uh- friends…" Chat's eyes slowly widened as he nodded along with his claim. "Friends with me. Yeah! You'll never see him or me, talking bad behind the other's back. That's just how we are."

For some reason Marinette's eyes were widening and- was that _hope_ shining in them? He was no author, but he was pretty sure her eyes were sparkling.

"Are you sure?" She asked excitedly, and suddenly she was right in front of him with her hands clasped under her chin and- _wow she looks cute in pajamas, wait, what?_ "You're really positive."

"If he liked me, I would know. I'm absolutely _paw-_ sitive," Chat beamed, and Marinette's expression fell into a deadpan one as she backed away, although she still had that hope glimmering in her eyes. Some part of him felt relieved when she wasn't in such close proximity- some other annoying part felt disappointed. He outwardly burst into laughter.

Talk about a pre-Halloween scare.

…

It was around the middle of December and the school was setting up for the school play a week before break began. The following week would be filled with merry people, merry times, merry food, classes not really following the curriculum and instead throwing parties and hosting Secret Santas, rainbow lights blending into the snow glittering like a blanket all over Paris…

It was Christmas month.

Marinette, Kim, Alix and Adrien were put in charge of bringing in the props for the play from the truck outside. There were lots of props, and most of them were heavy. Ivan had also been asked to help, but he wouldn't go without Mylene (being the romantic sap he was, Adrien didn't even mind). Kim and Alix were exhausting themselves by making it a race, seeing who could lug out the most things and fastest. So Adrien and Marinette took their time, bringing things out and onto the school stage at a steady pace together.

Marinette was bundled up in her winter clothes, things she must have designed herself. It was all consistent with her backpack, purse, and other clothing. In order to get some conversation going, and also because he was genuinely interested, he asked, "Did you make your clothes yourself?"

Marinette suddenly jolted when he spoke, and she looked down at her clothes as they walked to the truck, boots leaving behind imprints in the snow.

"Um… yeah," she said, smiling shyly. Her nose and cheeks were red with the cold. "I made them last summer."

"Wow," Adrien breathed, a little cloud forming in the frigid air, and then he laughed. "I wish I could be talented enough to do that! I'd have made myself a… beanie. Yeah," he said with a small smile on his face, remembering the scarf from his father. "A blue beanie." He glanced over to Marinette again and his smile widened. "Your designs are super amazing, though, so even if I did make it it'd probably be put to shame."

Marinette laughed a little, her cheeks redder- and not just from the cold. "T-Thanks…"

They finished unloading the truck half an hour later. Alix won the race against Kim.

Four days later, it was Friday, the day before break. Mme. Bustier was one of the many teachers to host a Secret Santa, announced at the end of the day on Monday after everyone was done setting up the stage. For the next three days, it was all anyone could talk about other than the play, people gushing to their friends about things they bought but keeping their lips sealed about who they'd be gifting it to.

Adrien had gotten very lucky (for once); his person was Nino. He knew Nino well enough to easily buy the perfect gift for him within three days, and he'd never feel nervous around Nino when giving the gift to him as he would if he'd gotten someone like Mar-

-...never mind.

It was early morning, and the schedule for the day was definitely not one that anyone was complaining about. They were going to exchange gifts first, watch one of those amazingly sappy Christmas movies next with treats, and then just enjoy their time for the next half hour before going to the school auditorium to watch the play that the drama class would put on. A special Christmas themed one.

It was times like these that made Adrien wonder how the heck he survived Christmas before school.

"Alright everyone," Mme. Bustier smiled and clapped her hands together. Fairy lights were the only thing illuminating her classroom; they were flashing red, green, and gold, and casting shadows in the crevices. A mini Christmas Tree was on the teacher's desk, very bright and shimmering with a golden star on top. The faces of the students and the walls and desks were all softly lit up in the colors of the lights. Lots of people had come decked out in their _ugly Christmas_ sweaters, excited for the day.

"Let's do this differently. Everyone will close their eyes, and if I tap your shoulder, you will quietly- _quietly-_ get up and place your gift in front of your person. Then you will go back to your seat and close your eyes again. You will only open your gift once I tell the whole class that all the exchanges have been done. Sound good?"

Everyone cheered in response and the teacher smiled. "Alright, class. Close your eyes and try not to go to sleep!"

There were chuckles scattered throughout the room as people closed their eyes and even put their heads down for better measure. Adrien grinned at Nino before placing his head down in his arms, trying not to think too hard. Who would gift him? Well, no matter who it was, he'd appreciate it since they put thought into it. He knew that he could've gotten Nino some gift card to a music store and called it a day, but he cared too much about his best bro for that. Bromance always came through.

A couple of minutes of scuffling shoes, muted footsteps, excited whispers and shushing later, a finger tapped him twice on the shoulder and his head immediately shot up. Mme. Bustier amusedly put a finger over her lips. Adrien glanced over to Nino with his head in his arms, cap put on backward to avoid bending the bill, and carefully put his bag in front of him instead of sliding it to avoid the crinkling noise. Adrien then put his head down once again, ready to wait some more.

It felt like eons later when Mme. Bustier's soft voice rang out.

"All right, everyone… open your eyes and your gifts."

Immediately there was the sound of crinkling cellophane and ripping paper. Adrien slowly lifted his head, grinning in excitement. That excitement spiked up when he spotted a gift bag in front of him, swirling with the colors of the fairy lights but also visibly light pink. All around the classroom happy gasps and exclamations were being made, and as Adrien pulled something soft and warm out of the bag, he couldn't help letting one of his own slip out.

A note was attached to it. It said, ' _I remembered you saying how you would want one, so I decided to make it for you! I hope you like it even though it was a little rushed, heh. Merry Christmas Adrien! :)'_

The beanie was nothing short of perfect.

"DUDE! This- this is sick!" Nino said, almost teary-eyed, as he looped his new headphones around his neck and stared wide-eyed at the mixtape. "Thanks, man- WHOA!"

Nino was suddenly leaning closer to take a better look at his beanie. "DUDE! Did you get that?! Is that handmade?" He looked at the note and immediately recognized it by the handwriting. "Marinette made that for you?! It's _awesome!_ "

Adrien could just nod with a dopey grin as he stared at the beanie, feeling the soft cloth warm his hands. "Yeah, she is."

"Well, what else is in your bag?" Nino asked. Adrien blinked.

"Wait- there's more?"

Nino burst out into laughter, shaking his head. "Dude! If Marinette ever gets a gift for you, there won't just be _one_ thing."

"That's my girl," Alya's voice proudly rang out from behind them and the boys whipped around to see the two girls. Marinette was looking so joyful she could burst, even as she ducked into her scarf with red cheeks. In front of her there was a new sketchbook and several pieces of cloth stacked and folded neatly.

Adrien pulled out a small box of chocolates with a gasp and looked over at Marinette- she was sinking further into her seat- before reaching into the bag once more and jolting when his fingers brushed paper. Gingerly, he pulled out a stack of papers bonded together with red ribbon. His jaw dropped.

"Are these-" his voice came out in a whisper and he tried again, louder, "-are these some of your _designs?_ "

He looked back to Marinette with admiration written on his face and the girl gulped before nodding, twisting the end of her pigtails nervously between her fingers.

"Yeah, I- I didn't want there to be, like, not enough things, so I added some of my designs because… uhm…" she suddenly seemed embarrassed. "You said you liked them, so… I hope it's fine…"

"Marinette this is more than fine, this is _amazing!"_ Adrien exclaimed, carefully opening the first page. He gasped and just stared at it openmouthed, ignoring the way Alya and Nino burst into laughter.

There was a figure drawn on the page in a very stylish coat. The figure was Chat Noir.

"Oh, about the first page!" Marinette said, phasing into her designer mode and seemingly forgetting her shyness. She slid out of her bench and kneeled next to Adrien to point at the page. "Well, Chat Noir told me you guys were friends," she said, and his eyes widened even more if possible. _She remembers that?_ "So… I've been thinking to make him a coat, since it does get cold sometimes and the suit doesn't-" She suddenly paused and sheepishly laughed. "Er, I mean, the suit doesn't _look_ like it's very warm. That's what I think. And I already have a copy of this sketch so I can start making the coat, so I just added this copy for you." She smiled at him. "Keep it a secret from Chat, okay?"

It was all Adrien could do to not burst into happy tears. But he did hug her. Suddenly.

She gasped as he suddenly leaned down and wrapped the arm with the hand holding the papers around her.

"Thanks so much Marinette," he said once he pulled back, grinning. "This has to be the best gift I've ever gotten."

Marinette was staring at him with her eyes blown wide, and he started to wonder if he'd gone too far when she suddenly broke out into a smile and said "No problem" before standing up and sliding back into her seat.

He was too occupied in the rest of the book to notice how Alya, Nino and Marinette were screeching.

The rest of the two hours in the class flew by as the Muppet Christmas Carol played on the projector screen. People snacked on their chocolate and roasted chestnuts that were passed around, and walked around to talk to everybody and see what they got as gifts. Adrien proudly showed off his beanie with no small amount of praise towards Marinette, and he heard her embarrassed squeak every time. Everyone was awed, and he couldn't help thinking how lucky he had gotten again.

Between himself, Nino, Alya, and Marinette, the gifts were exchanged. Adrien had gifted Nino, who gifted Alya, who gifted Marinette, who gifted him. Again, an unreal amount of luck.

The movie was amazing. The students had an inkling that Mme. Bustier had chosen the Muppets movie since it was in English and they had a test one week after break ended, but it didn't matter much in the moment. The songs were hilarious and memorable, especially as students (horribly) sang along. Kim and Alix somehow made it into a competition of who could sing louder, and Max ended up stuffing his friend's mouth with chestnuts just to shut him up. Everyone laughed hard and long, even _Chloe_ smiled at one point, and all in all it was a very merry time.

After that everyone got up and stretched their limbs before making their way towards the auditorium, also lit up with thousands upon thousands of tiny fairy lights strung across the roof and walls and bleachers. The rest of the school was piled in to watch the play, restless and chattering. It seemed unreal, how amazing the time being spent was. Adrien was seated in the bleachers right in between Nino and Marinette, and they all enjoyed the play that they'd worked hard to produce. Adrien laughed at the bad puns, and laughed even harder when Nino and Marinette- _Marinette!-_ groaned. He never could have guessed, although maybe he should've considering how exasperated she got when Chat Noir did it.

After the play, school was out. Adrien didn't even have time to consider the notion of going home and get disappointed like he usually did. Instead, a hand tapped his shoulder as he was packing his things up at his desk and bidding goodbye to all his classmates who were exiting out the door and whooping about Christmas break.

He turned and saw Marinette. Immediately a smile graced his face. "Hey, Marinette!"

"H-hey Adrien, I was just wondering… uh…" she looked back at Alya, who vigorously nodded and gave double thumbs up. She inhaled before asking , "Do you want to come with Nino and Alya and I to my house for dinner?"

Adrien's eyes widened before asking, "Wait, really?"

Marinette suddenly backpedaled. "U-Uh! I mean, if you'd wanted, it's fine if you don't I was just asking it was just a-"

"No no!" He interrupted, shaking his hands in front of him to clear any confusion. "I was just surprised is all. Of course I want to!" He smiled at her in hopes of easing her nerves and thankfully it worked. Her form relaxed. "My schedule is free for the rest of break. But… should I bring something?" He suddenly remembered Marinette's parents and their incredible hospitality and felt guilty. "I can't just walk in for dinner without-"

"No!" Marinette interrupted this time. "They'd be happy just with your being there."

Adrien was staring at her and he realized he hadn't felt so welcomed before.

The four of them went straight to Marinette's house after Adrien called Nathalie. His caretaker had even said 'Merry Christmas' to him before hanging up and he supposed that Christmas spirit reached everybody.

The second he entered the bakery, the warmth and the scent of baked goods and pastries hit him like a gust of wind. There were warm lights and colorful pastries stacked up in the windows, lots of children standing with their parents in line, excitedly jumping up and down as they relayed off what they wanted. The scent of the bakery enveloped him and reminded him of Ladybug.

Adrien followed Marinette with Alya and Nino further into the bakery, into the back where the kitchens were. Her mother and father were inside, the petite woman expertly frosting something intricate as her husband kneaded the dough. Many workers with aprons tied around their waists were working with them, and occasionally one of the two would answer a question or shout out to the workers before resuming their work. Adrien was awed.

It was like a big cycle, a big and confusing cycle but not one that was tangled up. It was orderly, and warm and loving. All the workers looked so happy.

"Hello Maman, Papa," Marinette smiled as she walked up and kissed their cheeks.

"Ah, Marinette!" Her huge father enveloped her in an equally huge hug, laughing when she wriggled out covered in flour. He looked over and saw Adrien standing with Nino and Alya. His smile grew. "You brought friends!"

Marinette's mother looked up and gasped when she met Adrien's eyes. "Oh! You're Marinette's friend Adrien, aren't you? You've been here once before!" Adrien nodded, surprised and humbled that she remembered him. The woman smiled warmly at him. "Make yourself at home, and if you need anything, call us by Sabine or Tom."

Adrien almost couldn't find it in himself to reply, he almost just stood there gawking like an idiot, but thankfully Plagg was there and he thumped against him from inside his coat. Adrien jolted before stammering, "Yes Ma'a- uh, Sabine." Sabine just laughed before resuming her work with the piping bag.

He walked behind his friends as they exited the kitchen and opened up his coat a little. Plagg was expectantly staring up at him with those luminous green eyes.

"I expect some good cheese pastries," was all he said before ducking pack in. Adrien rolled his eyes and patted the cloth of his coat back down. He adjusted the beanie on his head with a smile, not taking it off even though they were indoors.

The four of them sat in Marinette's living room and just talked and played Monopoly. He'd rarely ever seen Alya and Marinette fight, but if there was anything to go to war over, it was Park Lane.

Nino somehow won- he took much offense when Alya emphasized that ' _somehow'_ in the video she was making- a good three hours later. In essence, it was quite the short game.

"I'm so good it only took me three hours to beat you all," Nino said pridefully as he leaned back against the sofa. They were sitting in a circle on the floor of Marinette's living room, the Monopoly board between them.

"American games are weird," was all Adrien said, causing his best friend to break out in outrage and betrayal, saying things like "We had a _thing_ Adrien, _bromance._ Not anymore." Adrien went along with the breakup joke, pretending to be miserable, and he wasn't very sure about the other three but he laughed so hard his ribs hurt. He was also pretty sure that the vibrating in his pocket was Plagg stifling his laughter, too.

They hooked up Ultimate Mecha Strike to the TV to play. Alya promptly forbade Marinette from playing until someone was stupid enough to challenge her, and Marinette pouted saying that she'd never get to play. In the end, Marinette played all three of them- that is to say, Adrien was at the control while Nino and Alya shouted random things at him in attempts to help. It just made Adrien's loss worse than it would have been without their "help", and Marinette won with a fifty-thousand point gap.

"…you guys," Adrien groaned, flopping back as Alya and Nino laughed loudly. "I could've beat her without you two confusing me!"

"Nah," Alya smirked, "she would've beaten you anyways."

"Let a guy dream."

It was time for dinner, then, and Adrien swore he'd never seen so many varieties of food on one table before despite having a professional chef at home. There were things he couldn't name, colorful and steaming hot, there were dumplings, stews, quiches- Adrien vaguely wondered if they were feeding an army. Not that he was complaining.

The food itself tasted _heavenly,_ but Adrien felt like it tasted all the better because of everyone there at the table with him. While the food his chef prepared tasted good and was immaculate in the way professional meals were, he was always alone at the table meant for dozens. Here, it was the opposite: everyone was tightly packed around the medium sized table, passing dishes back and forth, talking loudly and sharing stories, having the time of their lives. Tom and Sabine made it a point to exploit every embarrassing tale about Marinette, and he laughed hard, at the stories and at Marinette's embarrassment towards her parents. He'd always thought how a warm aura was radiated out of Marinette, and how he always felt welcome on her balcony as Chat Noir, but he hadn't even thought about the inside of her home- how she was raised, what her roots were like.

He felt like he was at home.

Despite their insisting, Adrien helped clear the table anyways with Marinette, and so did Nino and Alya because everyone else was too. Adrien decided his new role model was Tom. The man made jokes- _bad_ jokes. Literally, he and Tom were the only ones cracking up while Sabine, Marinette, Nino and Alya just groaned and begged them to stop. They didn't. The six of them spent the better part of 8'o clock cleaning up as they laughed and exchanged riddles and played little verbal games.

It was time for Alya to leave. She had the earliest curfew out of all of them, at 8:30. She hugged Sabine and Tom goodbye before waving to her three friends as she left.

"She has little siblings," Marinette said as Alya's figure got smaller and smaller down the street. "So she needs to be home pretty early."

"I wonder what having a little sibling would be like," Adrien mused, and Sabine laughed.

"Oh, believe me, Marinette used to _wonder_ that too. She used to beg day and night for a little sibling-"

"Until," Tom continued with mischief, ignoring his protesting daughter. "She saw a movie where the baby got more attention and decided that she didn't want that-"

"Papa!" Marinette loudly interrupted, her cheeks red. "That's not true!"

"Sure," he chuckled, then turned around to Adrien and loudly whispered, "It is!"

"PAPA!"

The other four people in the household laughed merrily. Half an hour later, Nino was pulling his gloves and wrapping his scarf around his neck.

"See you again soon, Tom and Sabine!" Nino grinned. Marinette's parents smiled back.

"So you'll be in town this year?" Sabine asked. Nino nodded.

"Yup! Alya as well. We both visited our families last year and we go every other year, so there's that." With that and a final goodbye, Nino was out the door.

"Oh it's the same for us too, isn't it?" Tom asked Sabine, who nodded. "We visited Sabine's family in China last year. We're going again next year."

"That sounds nice," Adrien said, pleasantly smiling. He'd never really travelled much before, outside of European countries and America at one point. Seeing Asia and it's different cultures one day would be really cool.

Tom regarded Adrien for a few moments before putting a big warm hand on Adrien's head, catching the teen by surprise. The man grinned and ruffled Adrien's hair.

"You're welcome here anytime, son."

Adrien's eyes widened. Son.

Why was it that this man acted like more of a father to him than his real one ever did?

There Tom was again, looking at Adrien in that same way for a few moments before taking his hand off of his head.

"Head home safely, alright?"

Adrien blinked, realizing that it was already 9:15, somehow, and that he had to be home by 9:30. Trying to fend off the feelings of disappointment and chastising himself for being selfish, Adrien wrapped his scarf around his neck and wore his overcoat and gloves, preparing to leave.

As he stepped down the steps of the bakery, frigid air immediately turning his nose and cheeks reddish, and began to head off towards home, a voice called out to him. "Wait!"

Adrien blinked and turned around quickly to see Marinette. "Marinette?"

"Uhm, I just…" Marinette rubbed the back of her neck and blinked. Her eyes were reflecting all of the Christmas lights strung around the city. "Papa wasn't kidding, you know. You can come over again if you wanted, spend a day like this one again." Something in her face shifted and suddenly she looked sad. "Because your home… it might not...keep you smiling."

Adrien could feel his eyebrows drawing together the slightest bit, his eyes widening the slightest bit, and even though he'd been trained to show the emotion he was told to, it wasn't working right now. There were tears in his eyes. Luckily the cool air dried them so fast that he could barely tell they were there himself, but he was still shocked. How had a couple of words from Marinette managed to do that?

Like before in class, he hugged her, but this time she hugged back. When they pulled away she smiled at him and said, "Have a good break."

He was looking into her eyes back and forth for a few seconds before stepping back and bidding her a goodnight.

As he walked home that night, his boots leaving crunching footsteps in the snow glittering with red and pink lights, he realized there was another similarity.

Similarity number five: his feelings for them both.

He was in love with Marinette.

 **Posting separately, one more chapter there as a two-shot**


	53. Plagg's Ritual

**two words**

 **SEASON TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!111!1**

 **~It's time for food appreciation!~**

Adrien was awoken in the middle of the night.

Usually, Adrien was a heavy sleeper. Having school, piano lessons, fencing lessons, Chinese lessons, photoshoots and on top of all that having to fight supervillains as Chat Noir (not that he didn't like it) did a pretty good number on him. By the time he got home from patrols late at night, he was tired and ready for sleep. However, something in the middle of the night roused him and it wasn't anything small like a mouse or something- not like those would get into the mansion anyways.

In fact, Adrien was positive that his room was setting on fire.

That may have been a bit of a stretch, but in his defense he was half asleep and the orangish lights being tossed around the walls of his room weren't assuring in the slightest. If it wasn't a fire, then what could it be?

Adrien's worry had immediately peaked when he had glanced over and Plagg was nowhere to be seen. Adrien could feel his heart drop- _had Hawkmoth somehow taken his ring, his kwami, and then set his room on fire to get rid of him?-_ but then he saw he was still wearing his Miraculous and was allowed a moment of relief before suspicion filtered through him again.

His nose was registering the strong smell of Camembert cheese.

Warily, Adrien sat up in his bed and silently swung his legs around the edge of his bed, shaking hair out of his eyes. The alarm clock on his bedside table read 12:06 AM. His eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting of his room and he could make out a shadow stretched out across the floor of his room and climbing up his walls.

It was a very catlike shadow.

Adrien narrowed his eyes and got up, silently padding over to where his white couch was. He crouched down behind the sofa and peeked over the edge.

It was Plagg.

Adrien promptly choked and fell over behind the couch, taking a few seconds to regulate his breathing before shooting back up on his feet, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. Plagg was floating above a portrait of someone in black and white, surrounded by candles, with flowers and flower petals strewn about. The lighting made Plagg's green eyes seem even more luminous than usual, and the light hit his little cat face in a way that, in all honesty, freaked Adrien out.

 _Plagg had gone mad and was summoning the dead!_

" _PLAGG!"_ Adrien hissed, admittedly slightly afraid that he was coming in between some otherworldly ritual, and even more afraid that his kwami wasn't going to be normal. "What are you _doing?!"_

Plagg slowly turned his head to face Adrien and, in a moment of total rush decision, Adrien sprinted out and grabbed Plagg before diving back behind the couch. His kwami squirmed around in his grasp and Adrien risked a glance at the horrible scene that was the summoning behind him before whipping his head back to glare at Plagg.

"Oi, let _go_ of me, kid!" Plagg finally gave up and sunk his little teeth into Adrien's hand. The boy yelped and snatched his hand back, two little oozing pricks of blood on them, and Plagg was gagging.

"Ugh! Human blood is so gross! What the heck was that about?!"

Adrien forsook his bleeding hand and instead stared at Plagg incredulously. "Me?! You're the one summoning the dead here!"

Plagg blinked confusedly. "Summoning the- what?"

Adrien gestured with his hand out to the scene and two drops of blood rolled onto his wrist. "You know? The whole candles thing you were literally _just_ doing with the picture and candles and-" Adrien sputtered. "Wait, _why_ are you even awake at midnight Plagg?!"

Plagg rolled his big eyes, suddenly not seeming as creepy as before when they were reflecting candlelight. "It's a special occasion! I was gonna wake you up for it anyways. It's a good thing your lazy rear got up on its own though."

Adrien could find nothing to say in the face of pure hypocrisy. _Plagg_ was calling _him_ lazy. What a laugh.

"Ok well," Adrien said through gritted teeth. Plagg was one of his best friends, he really did need Plagg in his life and it was because of Plagg that he'd gotten through some tough times but _damn if the little thing wasn't annoying!_ "Please, care to share what this occasion is."

"It's Marie Harel's birthday!" Plagg proudly said, and was met with a blank stare.

"Who?"

Plagg clutched his little paws to his chest in agony like he was shot. "Marie Harel! Don't tell me you don't know!" Adrien said nothing and Plagg groaned. "Kids these days! So uncultured I swear!"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, who is Marie Harel?"

"Marie Harel," Plagg said, stressing the name, "was the amazing, intelligent woman who made the breakthrough known as Camembert!"

Adrien's eyes widened fractionally, not used to seeing praise in regards to someone else come out of Plagg's mouth. Really, the only thing Plagg complimented was his cheese… until now.

"Marie Harel deserves respect," Plagg said primly, "so I'm honoring her tonight right as her birthday begins."

"Wow," was all Adrien could say, dumbfounded. Plagg mistook it for awe and proudly nodded his head.

"Yes, yes, I know. I think you're finally understanding what value Camembert really holds in all of its gooey, smelly, richness-"

"Okay," Adrien amusedly interjected, then yawned right after. He was relieved that Plagg hadn't been possessed or the likes, but he was just as equally tired. "You can keep celebrating and all, but try not to burn my room down. I'm going back to bed."

"Wait!" Plagg said, and Adrien suddenly stopped. The kwami zipped back to the portrait surrounded by candles and flowers and picked one of the flowers up, which turned out to be connected to other flowers in a large chain. Plagg flew back to Adrien and unceremoniously tossed it onto his charge's head, tugging it down and mussing up Adrien's intense bedhead even more in the process.

"It is important that you heroes know the true value of the sustenance for your kwamis," Plagg said, sounding the most serious he'd ever been. "So you shall wear this flower chain in honor of Marie Harel all day today!"

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Even in school?"

Plagg nodded. "Yup."

Adrien lifted up the flowers around his neck with one hand and ran a thumb over one smooth, off white petal. "Where'd you even get this?"

Plagg smugly crossed his arms. "You think I'm the only kwami who does this, but all Miraculous holders wear the same thing when it's _their_ kwami's food's creator's birthday," Plagg said, and Adrien blinked as he tried to follow along with the confusing explanation. "I have my ways."

"Uh… okay," Adrien said, yawning again. He really just needed some sleep. This was a very realistic, and equally weird, dream. "Goodnight, Plagg."

"Night kid!"

A couple of hours later, Adrien woke up to the sound of his six o'clock alarm blaring, just as routine. He opened his eyes and yawned, just as routine. He got up and stretched, and saw Plagg snoozing on one of his pillows. There was natural sunlight brightening up his room.

"Plagg, I had the weirdest dream, you were in it and- " Adrien looked down and suddenly paused. "Oh."

Plagg cracked his mouth wide open as he lazily floated up. "Man, I hate alarms. They're so-" Plagg caught sight of the slightly-crushed flower chain around Adrien's neck and suddenly gasped, zipping forward with newfound energy.

"Today is a special day," Plagg declared. "Hurry! We have to make the most of it!"

Adrien rolled his eyes as he got ready for school at his usual pace. "Someone just had a change of heart."

The day passed by after that. Nathalie noticed his flower chain with a raised eyebrow. Adrien, in his own defense, said that it was April 28th and that as the son of a fashion tycoon he should be going with the trends. Nathalie bought it, and Adrien was proud that he was able to come up with such a well thought out excuse on the spot.

People in school also noticed his flower necklace and came up to him, complimenting him and asking if it was the new trend. He'd just rubbed the back of his head with a short laugh, saying that it might come up, and went with the flow. Rose asked him what kind of flower it was, saying she'd never seen one like it before, and Adrien suddenly got wary seeing as how Rose was practically an expert on flowers and told her it was a rarer type. Marinette's face also looked pinkish all day, and Alya and Nino were snickering and teasing her for something that he didn't catch.

The things he did for Plagg!

However, it wasn't until later that year during summer break, on the 17th of June when he was going to hang out with Alya, Nino and Marinette at the park- miraculously being approved by his father- that he noticed Marinette was wearing a flower chain suspiciously similar to the one he'd been wearing on Marie Harel's birthday.

 **SEASON 2 SEASON 2 SEASON 2 WHOOOOOOO MY BOIS OOOOOOMMMGAAAAHHH**


	54. Hairband

**Similarities chapter 2 will take more timeeee. Im sorrY! I LOVE YALLS SUPPORT THO! THE CHAPTER WILL BE THE BEST I CAN MAKE WHEN ITS OUT, PROOOMISSSEEE! that's the only reason its taking so long.**

 **I LOVE reviews and follows and favorites! Thank you sosososoSOSO much for the support! Speaking of, thank you carlos13 for the wonderful idea (and support)! I will try writing that for the next installation of Snippets!**

 **BTW, MULAN. A super awesome scene from Mulan basically fueled this whole story. You'll know when you see it, if you've seen the movie. :)**

 **~in which Marinette and Adrien do the total badassery that they are used to doing, except there is one little complication: they forgot their masks.~**

Marinette and Adrien were currently in a tight spot.

It had all unraveled now that Sticky Note had attacked. All akumatized villains seemed to have a mandatory monologue (they all supposed it was because Hawkmoth was dramatic in his own right), and it was through this that Adrien and Marinette- stuck inside Mme. Bustier's classroom- could find out that Sticky Note was just a boy who was outcasted, never had any friends, and was then tricked by a group of boys through a series of sticky notes with sickly sweet and equally as fake love messages on them who thought it'd be funny to "see how he'd react if he thought that a girl would ever like him". Marinette, despite herself, felt infuriated and decided that once she purified Sticky Note she'd try to make friends with him and then help him get revenge on the group of boys that thought it'd be funny.

However, there was a little problem in her plan: she couldn't exactly go and purify his akuma, not when he'd gone Horrificator and sealed up the entire school. With giant sticky notes.

"And now," his muffled monologue from the courtyard could be heard easily, "you all have nowhere to run! I will get my revenge and then immortalize every student in this school on paper so then _I_ will be the most popular student with the most friends!"

Marinette, again, felt her heart twang with intense sorrow. She would definitely make an effort to be friends with whoever this boy was. _If Hawkmoth is good for one thing,_ Marinette thought drily, _it's to make people realize things and connect._

While she was busy feeling pitiful, however, everyone else registered his message. "Wait," Kim said with horror, "so we're all trapped here until he comes and turns us into drawings on sticky notes?!"

Immediately he leapt up and threw his shoulder against the door, to no avail. "Agh, what the heck! They're just some stupid sticky notes, why won't it budge?!" Ivan and Juleka also got up and pushed against the door but it was to no avail. The giant sticky notes plastered against the door were magically enforced. Multiple students got up and peeked outside through the window to see the akuma in the middle of the courtyard. He was a sight to see: he looked like a complicated origami piece in the shape of a broad-shouldered human, with random messages scrawled on him in thick black marker and little spaces in the paper for his glinting red eyes. He was floating on a giant sticky note pad and had a huge, black ink marker in his left hand. He began to float up on his sticky pad and look through each of the windows of the classrooms, evidently searching first for the boys who'd wronged him. When he didn't see what he was looking for the giant sticky notes adhered to the door would magically open up for his entrance and sounds of crashing furniture and screams could be heard before he emerged from the classroom, looking smug and having a new notepad full of friends. Then he'd go over their faces in the black marker ink and that would "finalize" it, making any apparent chance at escape completely sealed off and impossible. The students by the window in Mme. Bustier's class scampered away from it.

"He's closing in on us!" Alix cried. "What do we do?! I don't wanna end up on a post-it!"

"Where's Ladybug and Chat Noir?!"

"They'd be here by now! Do you think they can't get in?!"

Several students voiced their agreement with varying levels of panic. Sticky Note was nearing them; he was one classroom over. The crashing and shouting got louder and louder.

Adrien opened his mouth to say something. What, he didn't know; he wasn't exactly sure how he would assure everyone that Ladybug would make it without sounding suspicious for two reasons: one, for saying the doubtful with such positivity, and two, not mentioning Chat Noir. But he couldn't lead them astray and tell them that a superhero that couldn't come would show up.

Meanwhile, Marinette was facing a similar predicament. Where was Chat Noir?! Wouldn't he be here by now? Then again, what if he thought that _she_ would cover it first? Or, even… _what if he went to this school?_

Marinette shook her head and determinedly scowled. Right now her class needed Marinette, because Ladybug couldn't make it. She couldn't be distracted by ridiculous out-of-the-world thoughts.

"We're cornered, but we're not helpless," Marinette said loudly. Everyone froze. "Barricade the door. That'd where Sticky Note enters through. And if he does manage to come in before Chat Noir makes it, we'll have to evade him and try running out the door once he opens it!"

Murmuring passed through the students and they were immediately working but suddenly Adrien was there, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "Eheh, but you know, Ladybug will probably make it here first, you know? She's… more dependable?"

Marinette immediately forgot about her blubbering crush and flared up a little. "Chat is just as reliable as Ladybug!" At Adrien's surprised look she suddenly turned red and tacked on, "W-what I mean is he'll make it. I believe in him." Before she could embarrass herself any further she rushed forward to help with barricading the door and missed the way Adrien stared after her. Even in the middle of an akuma attack Alya was there next to Marinette, gleefully nudging her in the ribs. "Did you see the way he looked at you?!" She excitedly whispered as she helped heave a desk up onto the ever growing pile. "Don't look now but he's still staring!"

"Geez Alya," Marinette groaned, mortified and her face a bright red. "Learn about timing!"

The students were in the middle of making their barricade larger and larger when suddenly a there was a loud ripping noise. The students immediately yelped and backed away to the other side of the room in fear. The sticky notes that stuck to the door were ripping away to make way for Sticky Note. The akumatized villain gave a start when he saw all the furniture piled up in his way. Strength obviously wasn't one of the feats of this akuma: instead of knocking it all down at once with superhuman strength, he decided to take printer-paper sized sticky notes and throw them in a slicing manner through all of the furniture. It was proving barely effective. However, slowly but surely, all of the furniture was getting knocked and sliced down with a big great _thud_ each time.

"This is it," Mylene whimpered in fear. They were all backed up against the window wall and were watching in fear as the furniture steadily fell away from the door.

The little papers that Sticky Note was using to cut through the furniture were piling up at their feet. Marinette regarded the whole situation with panic slowly rising. What was she supposed to do? Chat Noir was nowhere to be seen and she couldn't transform into Ladybug. She looked down and discreetly opened her purse, but Tikki vehemently shook her head. _Too many people!_

 _Okay,_ Marinette thought, sharply exhaling through her nose when two pieces of furniture were knocked down at once. Their barricade was near close to collapsing. _What can Marinette do? What do I have?_

She looked around the room. Pencils. Rulers. Other random various objects, and the ever-growing pile of sticky notes. Suddenly, as the pile of furniture at the head of the room was thin enough, Sticky Note flipped his ink marker around and opened up the other end to reveal a huge _blade,_ more akin to a sword.

"Crap," Max said. Kim was rubbing off on him, the boy never cussed before. Although, it could have been just due to the pressing situation. "A blade? He didn't think to use it before?"

The blade was knocking down the furniture much faster than the sticky notes. Marinette's eyes suddenly widened as she took it all in. A blade. Sticky notes. Pencils and rulers.

Immediately she lunged forward and picked up two of the sheets, turning them around to where their sticky side was. She gingerly touched the glue to see how sticky it was and hope soared within her. It was extremely sticky, even causing her finger to have difficulty pulling away. It could work. She could make it work!

"Whatever you're doing, you've got this Marinette!" Tikki cheered from a crack in her purse. The students behind her were all but shouting the opposite sentiments and she turned around. The first person who she locked eyed with was Adrien, and, not wanting to totally give her plan away to the villain within earshot, she mouthed, "Chinese fan."

Never in a million years would she have thought that Adrien would understand, or suddenly catch on to her train of thought and even sprint to the desks to gather all the rulers and pencils that he could. He somehow understood all of it perfectly in half a second, something nobody- _nobody-_ had been able to do other than Chat, and now he was bringing them over to her. The students were shouting, Alya and Nino the loudest.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"

It seemed that the furniture was getting knocked down faster and faster by the second. Marinette and Adrien worked on folding the paper back and forth in little columns, to get a long accordion type shape with both papers. At one point Adrien barely managed to slide all of their materials away from a flying chair.

They both finished folding at the same time and Marinette wasted no time in pasting the sticky side of the post-it accordion fan onto one of the rulers. She did the same with the other side, sticking its glued side onto the second ruler. Adrien had already gathered pencils for her to make the ribs, but she needed something to tie at the end where all the pencils met so it wouldn't fall apart. She whipped her head around and gnawed on her lip for a second, looking for any string, before suddenly gasping and ripping off one of her elastic bands, causing half of her hair to fall and curl around her face. She secured it tight around the pencils for a makeshift rivet. Finally she stuck the rest of the fan onto the ribs and held it up, viewing her handiwork. A desk was knocked down and was about to crash onto her- she didn't have time to move- but suddenly Adrien was there standing and kicking it away from her midair.

Before she could even think of blushing, he was asking her, "Okay, so I got the message about the Chinese fan but what exactly are you going to do with it?"

"Wouldn't I like to know," Alya shouted from behind them. Marinette was about to roll her eyes and answer to Adrien when suddenly all the furniture exploded forth and she scooted back on her hands and knees, barely dodging the little pieces of wood that were flying around. Adrien was having an easier time since he was standing, but Marinette still risked a worried glance his way.

"You all sure made things hard," Sticky Note growled as he stalked into the classroom. "You're all just like the boys who tricked me and had fun out of it!" He pointed his blade at the group of students clustered together on the far side of the room. "You won't be joining all my other friends!"

"That's not true!" Nino was yelling. "You aren't yourself, dude! Snap out of it!"

Unfortunately this only seemed to make Sticky Note angrier. "You don't know anything about me!" And then in a sudden swift movement, he was lunging forward with the blade end of his marker, cries of horror escaping the students and Nino completely frozen in fear as the sharp tip neared his chest.

He had squeezed his eyes shut, ready for a painful skewering, but they immediately flew open when there was a loud ripping noise instead.

Time seemed to slow down for everyone: Adrien stood there with a perfect side view, mouth agape in shock. All the other students could only see from the back, but they too could only stare on in shock and bewilderment as Marinette thrust her roughly made Chinese fan in the way of the blade. The paper was pierced by the blade, which was a centimeter away from Nino's shirt. The boy didn't dare to sag in relief.

Somehow, even faster than Sticky Note had advanced on Nino, Marinette was reaching forward with her other hand and she snapped the fan shut. The magical glue on the sticky notes held and she twisted the fan with all the force she could muster; Sticky Note grunted with the sudden pull. Because she had closed the fan and held it with both hands, it was secure around the blade of the marker and when Marinette spun it, it had a catapult sort of effect and Sticky Note suddenly found the marker twisting and slipping out of his grasp. Before he could make a grab for it, Marinette had twirled it into her possession and the akumatized villain could only watch in horror as she reared her arm back and flung it off of the Chinese fan _hard_ … right behind his own back to where a tall blonde boy was waiting. He skillfully caught it and Sticky Note whirled around, frustration building at the turn of events. Who did these kids think they were? Ladybug and Chat Noir?!

"Let it go, for your own good!" He snarled. In a flash Hawkmoth was shouting at him in his head.

' _YOU INSOLENT FOOL! You let two school children best you with your own sticky notes?! You'd best finish your business and then go and look for Ladybug and Chat Noir like I've been TELLING YOU TO!'_

Sticky Note winced at the pounding in his head after being yelled at and instead decided to focus on the two kids in front of him.

"On his hip!" The girl shouted and he suddenly gave a start as he realized she'd discovered where his akumatized item was hidden. But _how?!_ It should've been impossible to normal eyes with the way he was made completely out of paper!

He was suddenly lunged at and dodged away with a snarl, glaring at the girl whose fingers had just brushed the sticky notepad. He deftly whipped out one of his bigger notepads and flipped through it, passing a multitude of ink drawings of horrified looking teens, opening up to a fresh page. However, right as he was before to slam it down on her head to end her for good, the boy nagged the end of his blade onto the stack of post-its attached to his hip- _no, no, no no-_ and all of the notes fell, fluttering on top of each other one by one in a pale yellow sticky mess. Sticky Note abandoned the big notepad full of teens and lunged towards the pile- ' _RETRIEVE IT BEFORE THEY DO, FOOL!'-_ but the girl was on him _again,_ swiping his feet out from underneath him before he could have a chance to think.

The kids in the back of the classroom were cheering. He felt anger, but more despair and frustration tighten in his chest as he slammed to the ground; why was it that even when he had powers he was still being ostracized? What did he have to do to get people to actually like him? Was he just… was he just stuck being alone forever?

Adrien quickly sifted through the pile of notes and found the standout, a dark purple one. Before he could pick it up though, Marinette was placing her hand on his, looking a little frantic for some reason. "Uh, I'll take that for you," Marinette said quickly and she took the dark note. Immediately she wrinkled her nose, wanting to drop the paper radiating evil but knowing better. "I saw Ladybug outside so I'll just give this to her now okay see you all bye!"

And with that Marinette ran out of the room with the akumatized item, leaving behind a dumbstruck boy with a marker-sword in his hand, a given-up akumatized victim on the ground, and a class full of gawking students.

"Okay, Adrien," Alya finally said after a good ten seconds. Usually after the most epic of battles she would be stunned for a good five seconds- that was her longest record before she finally snapped back into her cheery journalist mode. Alya was almost completely desensitized to fights regarding Ladybug and Chat Noir. But this?

This left her squinting to see if she saw right. Especially because she recorded, and the recording showed that yes, two of her friends really _did_ fight an akuma and yes, it was the first time ever for Ladybug and Chat Noir to just not show up at the scene at all.

"What the hell?"

Adrien seemed to snap out of a dumbstruck sort of stupor. "What?"

"Don't what me," Alya sassed, pointing to him holding the marker, "here you are having defeated an _akuma-_ I won't even expand on _that_ yet- and you're holding this huge weapon thingamajig and _you're_ asking _me_ what?"

"Uhh… yes?"

However before any of the details could be examined further a blast of red light suddenly washed through the classroom. Immediately the sliced up furniture was repaired and put back in its place. The origami papers melted away from the akumatized victim's form to reveal an average looking boy, with brown hair and eyes and a black sweatshirt, staring down at the ground in confusion. Adrien looked down as the weapon in his hand disintegrated n a flurry of ladybugs and red light that felt warm on his palm.

Marinette's fan was taken apart, the ripped sticky notes disappearing and the rest of the materials appearing back on the desks as they were before.

Adrien looked down at his now-empty hands and suddenly gave a start, realizing something. If he was fast enough, then he could transform into Chat Noir and ask Ladybug where she'd been the whole time, and further why she hadn't come inside the school. Marinette said that she'd spotted Ladybug, so why didn't the heroine enter the school where the victim was? Unless…

Adrien suddenly dashed out of the (repaired) doorway, ignoring the shouts behind him. He scrambled around a corner and quickly lifted his jacket so that Plagg could come out. The black kwami floated out lazily and regarded Adrien for a few seconds and saying with a smirk,

"Your girlfriend is cool."

Adrien rolled his eyes, face suspiciously red. He didn't deny anything and instead initiated the transformation sequence without another word. When he was finally in his supersuit, he pulled out his baton and swiped at the screen. A circle with five dots flashed back at him from a spot on the map. Ladybug was still around! And if his baton was correct (which it always was) then she was on the rooftop of this very school.

Chat wasted no time in shooting off towards the main doors of the school and shoving them open. Once he was outside he extended his baton and smoothly jumped onto the roof, looking around. His ears perked up and he grinned when he saw spots. He was running forward, calling out her name, and then suddenly her name was dying in his throat as he saw her turn.

Half of her hair was loose.

 **I was so conflicted on how to end this. "To make Adrien extremely oblivious, or to not? That is the question."**

 **SIMILARITIES CHAPTER 2 IS COMING SOON! I'M ALMOST DONE! Thanks for the continued support and please read &review! **


	55. Jar Lid

**Hey-o~~~~~**

 **It's been a while! I updated Similarities and SWWTBE before heading back on over here. This one feels sorta like a stress reliever 'cause I can write whatever and I don't have to follow a plot, lol**

 **Anyways read, review, follow, favorite, all that jazz :D I haven't been able to reply to reviews lately but I READ EVERY SINGLE ONE like 4 times each and it's probably concerning but whatever**

 **~open the jar! post-reveal~**

It was known wide and well that Mme. Bustier's homeroom class made the best pastries and goods out of all the other homerooms.

Now, they weren't being vain or anything; in fact, most of the people in the class didn't have a clue about baking. But with the help of a baker's daughter, a chef's daughter, a few nifty people and a magical kwami that loved sweets, their batch was always marvelous when it came to the baking competitions in Francoise Dupont. The baking contests were really a way to raise money for the end-of-the-year promotion party (because they denied an irritated Chloe the right to throw the whole party herself), but the winning class got first rights to the dance and got to pick which activities to do, so it was always a battle to the death between the homerooms to see whose baked goods would be chosen.

However, this time, the class was faced with a bit of a problem… and the root of it was at an innocent-looking jar of chocolate chips that was currently being wrestled with.

It had started simply enough. It was Saturday, and so it was Mme. Bustier's homeroom class' turn to use the school's kitchens to make their goods. Each year the classes got a different day to work in the kitchens. The class that went on Sunday was the luckiest, because their goods would be less stale by Monday than the classes who'd baked before. But alas, Mme. Bustier's previous years had already gone near the end of the week and so her current class was using the kitchens on Saturday. They'd all strategically chosen to bake the good that would take longer to go stale, and hence, chocolate chip cookies.

Each person had brought in different things to make the cookies. Alya brought granulated sugar; Nino the brown sugar, Rose the butter, Juleka the margarine, Alix the vanilla, Mylene the eggs, Ivan the flour, Chloe the baking soda and salt, Sabrina the nuts, and Kim the chocolate chips. Max and Nathaniel had brought measuring cups. Adrien was to bring the baking trays, and Marinette had signed up to bring mixing bowls and cookie sheets, but the latter two had yet to show up.

"Kim," Alix grunted as she strained to open the jar in vain, "this- isn't- funny! Hurry up and open the jar already!"

"It's not my fault!" Kim cried out. "I bought this straight from the store. I didn't do some extra-tightening or something!"

"Well open it!" Alix shoved the jar towards him. "You're always going on and on about how strong you are anyways."

At several hums of agreement, Kim whipped around to look at some of his classmates in betrayal. "This is different. Where are Adrien and Marinette anyways?"

"Dunno," Alya replied as she rolled her eyes. "There wasn't even an akuma attack, so I'm guessing Marinette slept in. Adrien, though…"

"Who knows. They're a mystery even after we found out why they're always disappearing." Nino grumbled as he gave the plastic offender a halfhearted smack. He retracted his hand with a yowl of pain.

"That won't do," Rose protested. "Come on, let's keep trying, it's getting looser isn't it?"

"It doesn't feel like it," Ivan quietly said as he tried yet again to twist the cap open. He pulled away from the jar with angry red marks on his palm. Several of his classmates winced. All of them had similar impressions on their hands (save for Chloe, who didn't want to ruin her nails).

"D'you think we should just run over to the store and buy another jar?" Sabrina suggested. Murmurs of contemplation began running through the room, until Max said, "No, we cannot. We've already calculated the time that it would take to make the cookies and have them stored, and if we take a break to run to the store and buy another jar it would cut into our time despite our being an hour early. If we also consider traffic at the market and add that allotted time-"

"Sorry I'm late," a voice suddenly bursted out, saving the other classmates from having to interrupt Max. Adrien stood there in the doorway to the kitchen, slightly heaving with a stack of rectangular trays tucked under his arm. Plagg sat on his head with a bored look on his face. "I had some trouble finding the right trays."

"Dude, we knew you'd come!" Nino said happily. Similar sentiments ran throughout the room. Adrien entered the kitchen and set the trays down on the counter before letting his eyes flit around the room. "Is Marinette not here?" He asked. His classmates glanced at each other.

"We thought she'd be with you," Nathaniel said warily.

"Oh, just call her," Chloe huffed. "She's probably sleeping in like always. I've had to call her just to wake her up tons of times."

"Aww, you do that?" Alya cooed. "How sweet! You're such a good friend!"

"Shut up," Chloe shot back, causing snickers to go round.

"Um, you guys haven't started making the dough yet?" Adrien cocked his head.

"Well, Marinette isn't even here with the bowls," Kim said, and Alix snorted.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't have made a difference if we _did_ have the bowls. We can't open this freaking jar that meathead here brought."

"It isn't my fault!"

"Give it a go, mister extraordinaire," Nino said with bravado as he handed the jar to Adrien like a crown on a golden platter. Adrien rolled his eyes and plucked the jar out of Nino's grasp, inspecting it which way and that. He finally placed his hand on the top and made to twist it… to no avail. He furrowed his eyebrows and tried putting the cloth of his shirt over the top, and then twisting it. No such luck. Adrien made a face and held the jar up. Everyone watched him intently.

"We're doomed," Juleka said with her usual optimism. " _Adrien_ can't open it."

"No, there's gotta be something," Adrien mumbled as he tried yet again, gritting his teeth. Soon enough red imprints appeared on his palms to match with everyone else's.

Suddenly Plagg came down from Adrien's head, snickering. "Gee, aren't you lucky that Marinette isn't here. You'd die of humiliation."

Adrien made to snap back but he suddenly gasped. "Plagg! You can phase through the jar, can't you?"

"You can?" Nino asked dubiously, having not known that fact. "Like a ghost?"

"Don't compare me to a _ghost_ ," Plagg said with his little nose wrinkled in disgust. "And I'm not phasing through the jar. There isn't enough space for me in there anyways, and what would I do once I'm in? Eat the chocolate?" His disgusted face intensified. "Not that I would. Camembert, however, that's a different story…"

"Screw it," Kim suddenly said, cutting off Plagg's impending speech. "As long as all the chocolate chips stay on the counter," he said, motioning to the big island counter between them, "then they're clean, right? I say we go get a hammer."

"Why would there even be a hammer in a kitchen?" Nathaniel replied, and then his face brightened up. "But there are pots and pans, right?"

There were several gasps. "You're a genius!" Nino declared before ducking down and opening a cabinet. There was the sound of things being shifted around, and a slightly startling crash, but eventually Nino emerged with a pan. It had a wide, flat metal base and a thick wooden handle.

"Let's stand around the table in case some chocolate chips fall off," Mylene suggested, and everyone shifted accordingly until they were packed around the island counter. Nino held the pan at the ready. The jar was placed on its side and had been steadied so as to not roll away.

"Here goes nothing," Nino said and, with a deep breath, he raised the pan high above his head before slamming it down on the jar with all his strength and then some.

The jar immediately shot out and punted Adrien in the stomach. The pan slipped off of the round edge of the jar and instead crashed down on the countertop with a loud and concerning _**BANG!**_ Nino immediately snatched the pan away and balked at seeing two new cracks in the marble top.

"Shit," he said. "Adrien, dude, you okay?"

Adrien wheezed as he clutched his stomach. The jar, after having shot into Adrien's stomach, was innocently rolling around in circles on the countertop, causing all the chocolate chips inside to tumble over each other noisily. "That… ouch…"

"I'll do it this time," Kim said as he moved forward to take the pan from Nino. Immediately there was a loud, chorusing " _NO!"_

Kim drew away with a pout.

"That's definitely a no-go," Chloe said as she put her hands on her hips. She'd narrowly escaped the jar's assault and was not ready to do it again. "Now what?"

"Where's Marinette when you need her?" Alya groaned. "She'd probably think up something! But she isn't even picking up her phone," Alya sighed as she tried calling again and was instead met with Marinette's voicemail.

"We're lucky we got here an hour early," Rose said to keep the spirits up. "At least we aren't wasting any time!"

People sighed and nodded in agreement before letting silence ensue as they brainstormed.

"Knives," Alix suddenly spoke up. "Can't we cut the plastic?"

"That sounds like a death wish," Kim grumbled. "And I don't think that would work."

Before Alix could retort, likely something to do with the jar being his fault, Max said, "What if used kitchen shears? One blade could be used to stab into the plastic, the other one could make cuts, and if it slips then it won't do any harm."

"That sounds good," Juleka conceded. She took out the kitchen shears from a basket sitting on the countertop next to the sink and brought them back to the island counter. She opened up the scissors and poised the cutting edge above the jar.

"Well, it can't go worse than the pan did," Sabrina murmured as Juleka drove the blade towards the jar's side, one hand holding the jar firmly in place. The cutting edge slipped and merely made a little scratch on the surface. She tried again and she same thing happened. The third time, Juleka held the scissors a little tighter and closer to the surface of the jar before striking.

 _ **SNAP!**_

The broken piece of metal spun around and bounced off of the counter's edge, clattering on the tiles below. The students followed it with disbelieving gazes.

"What is this thing made of?!" Max finally exploded after a good half minute of silence, following up with mutterings about how it shouldn't be scientifically possible. Other people harbored similar reactions.

"Plagg, are you cursing the jar?" Nathaniel asked with a stern gaze, full well knowing the little trickster's sense of humor. The cat kwami sputtered.

"I would _never!_ Why would I waste curse magic on a stupid jar?!"

"This is ridiculous!" Alix groaned. "What are we supposed to _do,_ make chocolate chip cookies without chocolate?!"

"Plagg, would you mind?" Adrien asked, smiling up at his kwami cheekily. Plagg crossed his little arms.

"I refuse to transform for such a trivial reason. I am a _demigod_ of destruction and malice and-"

"I'll give you extra Camembert," Adrien cut in, and Plagg gasped.

"Deal!"

Several students rolled their eyes at the kwami's fickleness. "Plagg, transform me!" In a flash of neon green light Chat Noir was standing where Adrien was before, tail swishing as he pinned the jar down with a glare. Several students breathed out " _Cool"_ and _"Awesome"._

He seemed to mull something over before nodding decisively and picking the jar up. "I'm taking this outside," he announced.

Everyone looked confused. "Outside? Why?"

"I'm also going to take a clean sheet," Chat continued on to explain. "I'll put it underneath the wall and then throw the jar at the wall. Then it should break and all the chocolate will fall onto the sheet, right?"

The pupils thought it over and, seeing no fault with it, agreed. They found a sizeable clean sheet in the pantry and they all made it down the stairs (Chat simply jumped off of the railing) into the courtyard below.

After the sheet was spread, everyone crowded behind Chat, who was a good twenty feet away from the wall.

"This should do it," Chat said as he tossed the jar up and down. Everyone restlessly shifted behind him, waiting for the move. He stretched his right arm before shifting his body to be perpendicular to the wall he was aiming at. He reared his right arm back and tightened his one-handed grip on the jar- his claws made like scratchy noises which were much louder to his sensitive ears- before slinging the jar forth with all of his might.

 _ **CRASH!**_

A small cloud of dust formed around the wall the second the jar made contact and the students hastily covered their faces with their arms for a few seconds before hesitantly peering at the wall. They took cautious steps towards the wall where the jar had hit. Chat squinted as he got closer and his mouth suddenly dropped into a gape.

"No. Freaking. Way."

The jar was a few feet off, utterly unharmed despite being covered in a small layer of dust. There was a great big cavity in the thick, nearly invincible brick wall, huge chunks of the rock torn out and littered along the ground. The sheet, which was previously clean and white, was riddled with dirt stains and little pieces of rock. Chat had literally thrown the jar so hard that, no, the _jar_ didn't break but it exploded a hole in the brick wall instead.

Chat strode forward and snatched the jar up, pinning it with his most hateful glare. " _CATACLY-"_

"What is going _on?"_ Chat jumped up- his tail shot straight up- and the group of students collectively turned as one towards the entrance of the school, where the doors were open and beheld Ladybug in all her glory. She had a bunch of mixing bowls tucked under one arm, the one at the top of the stack having two rolls of foil paper, and she stared at the wreckage.

"La-Ladybug!" Chat stammered, trying and failing to hide the jar of chocolate chips. She made a face.

"…Sorry I was late," she finally uttered. "I ran into some trouble. But… care to explain what's going on?"

"It's this jar," Nino took the liberty to explain. "It won't open no matter what. We tried pretty much everything and it _still_ won't budge."

Ladybug made a perplexed face. "Seriously?" She walked forward gingerly set all of her materials down on the ground before taking the jar Chat offered her. She raised an eyebrow at the dirt-streaked and scratched condition it was in and several people sheepishly laughed.

She pooched her lips and examined the jar carefully before placing a single gloved hand on top and popping the lid open with ease.

" _WHAT?!"_

"It's a press and twist cap," Ladybug explained to the group of gaping students. A select few looked ready to fall to the ground. "It's made to be harder to open for children and stuff." She took another look at the mangled and broken brick wall and the group of students and hid her giggle behind a hand. " _Obviously."_

" _This_ is why we need you," Alya uttered with exhaustion. Chat let his transformation go with a groan and Plagg spun out, utterly delighted.

Ladybug fixed up the wall with her magic before letting Tikki out of the earrings. The ladybug kwami joined Plagg in the air and practically dragged him back to the kitchen, saying how she absolutely _needed_ to watch over the success of the cookies and ignoring Plagg's protests. Everyone began the trek back up the stairs, buzzing with conversation (most of it a mix between exasperated and amused). Marinette and Adrien lagged behind the group.

"So what was the trouble you ran into?" Adrien asked with a smile. "I was also late a few minutes, but it was because it was near impossible to find normal baking trays in my kitchen." He rolled his eyes and shared a laugh with Marinette. She looked slightly embarrassed.

"Well, uh, I slept in at first," she said bashfully. Adrien snorted.

"Alya and Chloe predicted that."

"Of course they did," Marinette rolled her eyes. "I decided to transform into Ladybug and bring my things, 'cause I know mixing bowls are sort of really essential to even start baking and I didn't want to be late. But then I saw a mugger, and well, one thing led to another and I had to turn him into the police, which took long enough, and then reporters swarmed me and asked what I was doing with mixing bowls, and." She waved her hand in the air. "You know the drill."

She looked back at Adrien only to find him gazing at her with a soft smile. She ducked her head, cheeks blooming red, and self-consciously tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Only you, Marinette." Fingers intertwined with her own. "Only you."

" _HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO OPEN THIS JAR OF NUTS?! I'M PUSHING AND IT'S NOT WORKING!"_

 **Aw man these dorks**


	56. Hawkmoth Who?

**Ah~**

 **thank you** **carlos13** **for this wonderful idea! I changed it up a teensy bit but I really liked what you mentioned in the review, so it's mostly the same, except for some of my own twists.**

 **Let's go!**

 **~Spoken stories of akumas don't match up and a mess becomes a bigger mess when the kids can't communicate~**

"And…there," Alya said with finality as she finished updating her Ladyblog. Being the sole, trusted reporter for her very own Ladyblog, which also happened to be the best source for superhero news, was no easy task, but Alya prided herself with being the one person to uphold such a successful site. With no fail, she always captured every epic battle moment, as well as the aftermath. Ladybug and Chat Noir had just defeated an akuma half an hour ago, twenty-nine minutes ago they'd fistbumped and departed, and Alya was just finishing up the last edits on her video before posting.

In class.

Of course, when it came to the school system, students had one full hour to get back to their class after an akuma attack. This was due to the fact that sometimes kids got sent to the opposite end of the city in the midst of an outbreak, and one hour was more than enough to catch a bus or metro train back to wherever they needed to be if they couldn't walk. So, Alya was breaking no rules, but several students looked over at her seat curiously as she finished up her business on her phone. Francoise Dupont was always close to the akuma attacks (whether that was a blessing or a curse was up to each individual) and so the students were already seated in class, having nothing to do for a full half hour yet.

"I thought updating your blog gets hard when it's not on the computer," Nino remarked. Alya glanced up from her phone at him.

"Well, yeah. But I'm not an experienced blogger for nothing." Alya puffed with pride. "It's a cinch. Besides, I have enough time. I made a big update."

"Big update?" Adrien asked. "Like the _Chat_ room?" When Alya had first added that to her blog, Adrien had, inexplicably, found the name hi _la_ rious and stated that it was his favorite update ever. Her blog also picked up more followers, from a startlingly large number of Chat Noir fans, and the pun in the name was only pointed out more and more with raising levels of glee.

"No, not that big," Alya admitted, "that's probably my biggest update, like, ever." Adrien grinned and Marinette leaned over to look at her screen.

"Ah, I see," she said when she'd spotted the change. "You made an exclusive akumatized victims list?"

"Yup," Alya affirmed. "It's a full list, and I even added the places where the people got akumatized with a bar graph next to it."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "How'd you find places for every single person?"

"Investigation," Alya vaguely replied. "But most of the people came from this school- it' freakish how Hawkmoth attacks us almost exclusively."

"Talk about it," Nino muttered. He'd pulled out his phone and the Ladyblog was opened up there. "Geez, look at the bar graph! Our bar is, like, a mile above the rest."

"Tap on the bar for any place and you'll get the list of people akumatized there," Alya urged with a grin. "I think that feature is pretty awesome."

"You think right," Adrien agreed as he tapped on Nino's phone. The list opened up and Nino disinterestedly scrolled through, knowing all of the stories about his schoolmates and what had happened. He suddenly paused as he reached the bottom and blinked as he seemed to come to a realization.

"Dude," he said, making Adrien perk to attention, "you've never been akumatized?"

Adrien suddenly broke out in a cold sweat as Nino continued on, "I thought everyone in this class had…"

"Hey, now that I think about it, Marinette hasn't been akumatized either!" Alya said, turning to her friend who was suddenly in a similar state to Adrien. "Didn't Ladybug and Chat Noir say, like, a month ago that the reason they don't get akumatized is because of their miraculous protecting them?"

It was true. People had been questioning, and so they superhero duo had given an answer that seemed vague enough to be safe. In fact, it was exclusively on video on Alya's blog. Right now it was all Marinette and Adrien could do to not outwardly curse their foolish past selves.

"Um," Marinette squeaked. She _could_ make an argument, of course, about how Hawkmoth couldn't akumatize _everyone_ , but that was a weak argument because, well, he could. He'd probably akumatized his way through every student in the school, except for herself- because she was Ladybug- and Adrien… whose reason she didn't have the luxury to think about at the moment.

So then, she could make something up. That would work. Yes, that was what she would do.

Adrien apparently had reached the same conclusion as her in his own head, because he suddenly blurted out, "Ah, I have been akumatized!"

Alya did a double take. "WHAT?"

Adrien floundered, white as a sheet. "Um- that is- I became the… The Model," he said uncertainly, and then nodded along rapidly. "Yeah, The Model. I was gonna, well, attack my dad for giving me so many photoshoots and stuff. But Ladybug was on patrol and she purified my akuma really quick."

"SERIOUSLY?!" Alya cried out. "Why wasn't I told about this?"

"Um, because… I was embarrassed?" Adrien weakly ended. Immediately there was the hand of Nino at his back.

"No need, dude," he said easily and Adrien felt horrible for lying to such honest and caring friends. But he had to! "There's nothing to feel bad about, it's all Hawkmoth's fault. Besides, can't get worse than I did, right? Bubbler," he snorted, spitting the name out like a curse. Adrien laughed a little, feeling a small weight lift itself off of his chest.

That little weight suddenly returned in a crushing tenfold, though, when he noticed how Marinette was staring at him in obvious skepticism. Disbelief. Suspicion. He balked.

"Are you sure?" Marinette suddenly asked. " _Ladybug_ was there and saved you?"

Well, he had to go all or go home. It wouldn't do to look like he didn't believe the lie himself when he had to convince others, especially Marinette who'd unexpectedly turned out to be very dubious.

"Yes," he firmly replied as if he was freshly recalling the memory in his own head. Marinette simply stared at him some more with a frown on her face and he felt like she was taking him apart piece by piece.

"…without Chat Noir?" Marinette finally asked. Adrien blinked stupidly.

 _Damn it!_ He knew he was forgetting something in his explanation!

"Um, well," Adrien laughed. It was just as forced as if he'd had to yank out his own tooth. "I was caught off my guard so she did it herself- or so she told me later," Adrien hastily added when he recalled that akumatized victims weren't supposed to remember anything from when they were possessed. He was glad to have caught that. He felt like he was at a court trial or something.

Marinette could make a very good judge. He felt inclined to tell the truth just by the look she was giving him- _a look he still couldn't figure out!-_ and it was only the thought that he was lying out of good that kept his lips sealed.

"I see," Marinette finally replied.

She knew something was up.

Alya and Nino exchanged bewildered glances as the tension in the air between them suddenly spiked.

Adrien cleared his throat the best he could without seeming guilty (could you suspiciously clear your throat? Was clearing your throat suspicious?) and fished for anything that would turn the attention away from him. Luckily, he didn't have to fish long, because he remembered that apparently, Marinette hadn't been akumatized, either. Which was very curious for him, genuinely, because he had the excuse of being a superhero, but what did Marinette have? He'd like to know.

And so he asked, "What about you?"

Marinette's inquisitory look shattered on her face, leaving behind a fully dumbstruck expression. "Wha?"

"Alya said that you haven't been akumatized," Adrien gently probed albeit nearly buzzing with curiosity.

Marinette blinked. "OH! Um, well, that is to say- uh, just like you, I kept mines secret!"

" _WHAT?_!" Alya positively exploded. "MARINETTE?!"

Alya suddenly started as she realized the entirety of the bored room-in-waiting was staring at her. Without so much as a little blush, as Alya was brazen and simply had little shame, she sat back down as she'd stood up abruptly along with her exclamation.

"Why are these things being kept from me? I run the Ladyblog for heaven's sake!" Alya wailed albeit quieter than before.

Marinette felt bad. She tentatively put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's because my situation was similar to Adrien's," she explained, talking slowly so that she could think it through. To everyone else it seemed she was doing that to comfort Alya. "I got akumatized but Ladybug and Chat Noir took care of it really quick." She missed the look thrown her way by Adrien. "I barely knew what happened. If we had told you, then you would ask for details we wouldn't have, and probably post an incomplete post which would just ruin your aesthetic and you'd spend the rest of your days in misery, unable to delete it because then your blog would be incomplete but hating the fact that it was there."

It was so silent by the time she finished speaking that you could hear one of Chloe's pure gold pins drop.

"Wow," Nino finally said. The class, being used to the "peculiar four" as they labeled it (consisting of Marinette, Alya, Adrien and Nino) resumed to what they were doing before. "That's some epic storytelling skills you've got there."

"Not a story, Nino," Marinette solemnly shook her head, "a traumatizing cycle which, out of my love for Alya, I prevented…"

"Shut _up,_ " Alya said with a laugh as she shoved Marinette's shoulder, previous woes forgotten. She _supposed_ that Adrien's and Marinette's stories made sense. It was far too confusing to delve deeper into, and besides, it didn't seem that out of the blue for Ladybug and Chat Noir to take care of an akuma so fast that nobody noticed. The heroes were awesome like that.

"So… Chat Noir saved you?" Adrien asked in a manner much like Marinette had questioned him earlier. She blinked and frowned, feeling like she was taking a multiple choice test: deceivingly easy, and no half-credit given.

"Yes," she replied much faster than she'd have liked. "I mean, yeah. Of course!"

Adrien squinted at Marinette who was suddenly an enigma. Why would she not tell the truth?

Of course, it wouldn't have been believable in the slightest if Marinette said that she was never targeted by Hawkmoth. Hawkmoth had gone after everyone in the school. He went after people for the pettiest of reasons. And everyone knew that Marinette, while she was notoriously kind and popular, had many reasons to be riled up, from being the one to deal with Chloe to not getting enough sleep because of her supposed "inspiration bursts". So there was no way she wouldn't be targeted by Hawkmoth.

Unless…

Adrien's eyes widened and he found an odd sensation biting at the back of his throat, making it hard to swallow or talk or even blink. He turned around and was thankful when class began, finally, as if on cue. He was saved from having to explain himself and instead the day ensued, passing by in a hazy blur. He wasn't sure what he said or did. He couldn't remember. Instead he suddenly found himself in his room, and with Plagg, to face the full brunt of his new discovery.

"Plagg…"

The kwami floated out of Adrien's bag slowly, critically eyeing his holder. This would be a huge turning point for Adrien in his life, if, of course, Adrien realized what Plagg thought he had realized…

"I THINK MARINETTE IS HAWKMOTH!"

Guess not.

 **haha time to make this a new story… three chapters, or four?**


	57. Rats!

**Ahem ahem *clears throat***

 **It's been a while!~ See… I was going to update soon here, or on one of my other two stories, but school hit. But then I was like, "I'll do it on the weekend!"**

 **Then it rained and our internet went out. And naturally, being frugal and being desi, we have shitty-ass providers who didn't do a thing for a week until we called for the people who provided our providers internet and… yeah. They came and told us how our providers lied and stuff.**

 **The bottom line is, I couldn't really do anything. I had ZERo, NADA internet. In the Silicon Valley that's a nightmare. Especially if you're in highschool…**

 **ANYWAYS. THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER HAS BEEN CONTINUED! Several people asked so, yeah, I will finish that one with a sixth chapter soon too.**

 **Thank you for sticking by! Here's a quickie.**

 **~Tikki is offended** _ **.**_

Ladybug all but faceplanted into her open trapdoor, set there smartly by a Marinette-Dupain Cheng of three hours prior (she patted her past self on the back for that one), landing on her cushy bed facefirst at the same time that her transformation wore off. In a wash of pink light and sparkles all too bright for the dark room there was Marinette and Tikki, the latter of which spun out of the earrings and weakly fluttered onto the bed next to Marinette's head.

"You're going to suffocate," Tikki said faintly. Her charge let out a muffled groan in response.

After a few more seconds Marinette painstakingly rolled onto her side to face her kwami and sighed. She couldn't see her kwami in the dark, it being nighttime, but she knew Tikki was there. "That was tough," the girl groaned. Tikki mutely nodded.

"If Chat hadn't been there, I'd have been a crushed bug," Marinette mused. "He's a really good fencer. He must be taking it worse than me…" Marinette groaned, but was too tired to lift her hands to cover her face. "I hate akumas that fly."

"Me too," Tikki said, tiredness evident in her voice. "Food… please?"

Marinette made to get up but the strain made her muscles protest and she suddenly plopped back down after making an ascent of a whole one inch. The mattress shook and Tikki squeaked. Marinette shot out a hand to keep Tikki from falling off the edge, but that alone seemed to sap the remnants of her energy. The teenager somehow managed to sag in a laying-down position. It had really not been a good day for either of the heroes, even though they eventually won. She didn't even hear Chat make one pun. Or maybe she was just too out of it.

"Oh no," Marinette griped. "Hold on… I'll get it-"

"It's okay," Tikki suddenly interrupted. The kwami drowsily smiled at Marinette. "After a little rest I can go down and get them myself. The cookies are out on the kitchen counter, right?"

Marinette frowned, trying to push herself up into a sitting position. "No, wait-"

"Rest Marinette," Tikki ordered with as much finality as she could. "You had a rough fight. I'm a magical being; I gain energy faster than you."

At Marinette's skeptical look Tikki tacked on, "I won't be seen. And even if I am I'll pretend I'm a plush toy or something!"

At that Marinette sleepily giggled. "You are good at doing that, aren't you?" She eased herself back on the bed, careful not to shake the mattress, and closed her eyes. "I'm just gonna close my eyes…" she murmured. "Five minutes. Then… I'll get your… cookies… 'kay?"

Tikki smiled up at the face of her charge, sound asleep. Then she yawned herself. She already felt a little more energized than before just by resting. There was no better motivator to get moving than a good chocolate chip cookie.

…

After a few minutes Tikki hovered above the bed and made her way down to the trapdoor on the floor of Marinette's room. The door was closed, so Tikki phased through and was met with the sight of Marinette's parents cleaning up the kitchen together after the day of working. Tikki nodded to herself satisfactorily as she watched the two adults work jubilantly. She knew there was a reason Marinette was so caring.

Soon Tikki honed in on the plate of cookies on the counter. _Apparently_ they were a bad batch just because they were a teensy little bit browner than usual. Tikki thought it a waste, but at least they didn't just throw them away. And it meant more for her.

Tikki waited for Sabine and Tom to direct their attention elsewhere before zipping out at full speed and crossing the length of the kitchen in two seconds. She tumbled onto the counter and immediately hid behind the plate.

Good. Neither of Marinette's parents had _spotted_ her. Heh.

Tikki took one cookie in both of her arms and slid it off the plate before getting to work in eating it. Ah, Marinette's parents weren't the best bakers in Paris for nothing. Wasted batch? Hah, not on her watch!

Tikki savored the cookie. Maybe a little too much. Maybe she should have savored less, so when she was finished polishing the crumbs off of her arms, she wouldn't suddenly freeze and look up to see Sabine staring at her with those grey eyes.

The older woman and Tikki stared at each other for a good thirty seconds before Tom noticed his wife's inaction and made his way over to her side. Tikki, meanwhile, was wondering what to do. Had Sabine seen her moving? Was it too late to act like a plush? Did she just accidentally out Marinette for a _cookie?!_

"…honey," Sabine said finally. "Have you ever seen a red bug like this before?"

 _Bug?_ Tikki was a Ladybug kwami, but she didn't think she looked much like an earthen bug. She struggled to keep her face neutral.

"That's not a bug," her husband replied, and if Tikki had a human heart it'd be pounding out of her chest right now. Oh, dear. Tom knew. Tom knew! Tikki had ruined everything for a cookie! It had been a sinfully good cookie too, even if it was a little brown, but then again she really thought that it could be a new thing if browner cookies tasted that good-

"Isn't that a rat?" Tom continued, and Tikki's nonexistent heart stopped. This time she was sure her eye twitched.

"No, rats have those big ears, don't they?" Sabine replied, turning away from Tikki to look at her husband. "And they're not bright red."

"Bugs aren't this large, are they? Don't they have different looking appendages?"

"I don't know much about bugs, though."

"I don't know much about rats either."

"What if it's a bugrat?" Both adults mused at the same time and a soft screeching sort of sound left Tikki's throat. Sabine and Tom snapped their gazes back to Tikki and the kwami offered them a steady look before flying back up to Marinette's room.

…

Marinette was awoken by the trapdoor to her room flinging open so hard it slammed against the wooden floorboards with a resounding _BANG_. The teenager was yanked out of her peaceful sleep and she flew up with a screech and arms up in a defensive stance, almost hitting her head on the shelf above her bed. A second later the lights were flipped on in her room and she squinted, blinking rapidly.

She looked down and saw her parents. Tom held a spray bottle while Sabine had a rolling pin she was smacking into her open palm from time to time.

"M-Mom?! Dad?" Marinette sputtered. " _What are you doing?!_ "

Her parents looked around her room and Marinette had a fleeting thought. _What if they're looking for a boy?!_ Then she backtracked. _Wait. I don't even sneak boys into my room. Does Chat count? He doesn't, right? Wait. Have they FOUND OUT about him?! They'd think he counts!_

While Marinette was busy hyperventilating her parents finished their silent checkup. Apparently they didn't find whatever they were looking for and turned to Marinette instead. "Marinette, did you see a-"

"I'M ALLERGIC TO CATS!" Marinette screamed at the top of her lungs. She heaved after lacking oxygen from such a long scream and risked a look to her parents. They looked baffled.

"…a bugrat," Sabine slowly finished, not questioning the cat comment. She'd dealt with weirder. "A red bugrat type of thing flew up into your room. Well, it obviously can't be a rat if it flies-"

"If it were a flying bug it could have _wings,_ " Tom stressed as he interrupted his wife and Sabine planted her fists on her hips.

"Rats never have wings, though!"

"Wait wait wait," Marinette intervened in what seemed to be an ongoing argument. "Bugrat? Not…not a cat?"

Sweet, cool relief coursed through her veins. They didn't find out anything about Chat. In hindsight, she and Chat did nothing but talk and eat and joke around and stuff, like normal friends, but still. She'd only heard stories of how parents reacted when a boy and a girl were hanging out secretly, and she didn't want to experience it firsthand. Then again, in those stories the boy wasn't usually a superhero. Or the girl.

She should stop relying on normal-people stories for her very non-normal life.

"Whatever it was, it came into your room," Tom said. He held up the spray for emphasis. "We've never had to use this before. Always passed the hygiene checks issued by the city, of course. But I had this back in the closet for a while just in case and the time has come, even if it might be expired, but I think that makes it more poisonous-"

"No, that's not necessary," Marinette hastily interrupted. "It was… um. An experimental project."

"What?"

"Ohh, you know," Marinette tried to nonchalantly laugh and wave her hand in the air. "It was… uh… Max! Yeah, Max and I worked together," Marinette nodded rapidly, equally pleased and horrified at her very believable lie. "I made the plush and he made mechanisms and stuff to… y'know… make it fly," Marinette gestured.

"But it was eating," Sabine said, and Marinette winced. She'd gone straight to sleep and forgotten to get Tikki her food! Why, universe?

"Max does lots of stuff," Marinette replied, struggling to not wince. She hated lying. "Have you met Markov? He's Max's robot friend," Marinette rambled on, eager to change the subject. "He's just like a person but he's really smart and he even remembers people and their personalities and stuff! In fact he said I was a funny person-"

 _BANG!_ Marinette cut off with a screech. For a second she thought that her parents had angrily left her room and slammed the door shut (both things completely out of character but Marinette was on one of her thinking sprees), but they were still standing right there in her room, gaping.

Chat stuck his head in through the trapdoor above her bed. "Hey Marinette, I knocked a bit but you didn't-"

He saw Marinette's parents standing there, staring, with a rolling pin and a suspicious green liquid in a bottle and he slowly backed out. "Sorry about the door."

"…"

Next it was Marinette's parents who slowly backed out of their daughter's room. Tikki floated out once they were gone.

"Tikki, I am so dead."

"What is it with you and your family and thinking I'm a bugrat? Aren't I too cute to be a _rat?_ And what kind of bug flies without wings?!"

 **OMGGGGG THE NEW EPISOD EEIJEOI FN.F,.F.F…VRF LJIHVLIUHLV. AMRICHAT. MARIHA.T I CANT. OSJOIH**

 **(I started this yesterday and finished it this morning. theepisode came this message is much more… excited than the one at the start of the chapter.)**


	58. Rena Rouge: Superhero and Mom Friend

***hides face while shuffling in***

 **Ahem… yes. Hello.**

… **It's** _ **totally**_ **not been like one fourth of a year since I last did shit…**

 **IM SORRYYY D:** **Last time** **I wrote was around the time I had lots of stuff going on. I was trying out for a sport and the conditioning was heeelll! I got home at 6 every day and then had so much homework to do I just ugh T_T Writing here had sadly just dropped in my list of priorities.**

 **BUT! I do have good news. I GOT ON THE TEAM! And, well, this is really old news too 'cause the season ended already as well… LMAO. Which is why I'm back by the way! I get home SO early now and I get so much free time…** **(** **︶** **︶** **)** **╭ feels so good.**

 **anywho…. im sorry. :( I will hopefully be writing regularly again… just so u guys know, its not like I completely forgot about this. I actually tried writing something a few times, but it just flopped.**

 **~ Rena Rogue is ready to skin a cat (in which Alya has the fox miraculous** `ε´)~

*INSPIRED BY ML STORY PROMPTS ON TUMBLR. Thank you friends!*

Alya considered herself many things: the Mom Friend, a pretty damn good blogger, a social media influence, a persuasive girl, and a terrible liar, amongst many others. One of those 'others' happened to be _hardworking superhero._ Not super-awesome-hero, or best hero, or super-kickass hero (still just kickass) but she could definitely say that she was hardworking. Part of it was, of course, thanks to her loving it. She had an inkling she liked it more than Ladybug, maybe even more than Chat Noir, who obviously enjoyed everything about the superhero-ing from the feeling of weightlessness in the air to the power surging through every vein. She got out as much as she could as Rena Rogue, interacted with citizens, did little tricks, the whole shebang. But she also made sure to patrol responsibly, and not only use her suit for fun. Ladybug had stressed what a weighted responsibility having a miraculous was, and now that Alya was granted permission to keep hers, she wasn't planning on revoking that anytime soon.

Sometimes Alya narrated the things she saw in Paris like it was an excerpt from a book. _The sky is endless, bleeding from purple to pink to orange- if you look hard enough in the darkest parts maybe you can see lights shining off of a plane flying._ So she did look sometimes, and when she couldn't see well enough she would jump higher.

That night, she'd had liked to say it was starry just because it sounded nice, but the way the lights were, it was as if all the stars had fallen into the city instead. She couldn't find any airplanes or birds in the sky to look for and leap up at, but she did find something else, and it was running parallel to her a few rooftops away. She couldn't really make it out well, but it had two legs and it ran very fast.

Rena crossed over three of the four rooftops in between them to get a better look. A closer examination revealed none other than Chat Noir himself, running along. Rena stopped herself from calling out when she noticed he was carrying someone.

Carrying someone? What would he be running across rooftops with a civilian for? That was kind of dangerous, although, admittedly, if Alya wasn't Rena Rogue then she's sure she would've raved for that kind of thrill.

However, Rena's heart skipped a beat when Chat did something completely unnecessary: he took out his baton and made it lengthen so it hit the rooftop and then lifted him into the air. The momentum from his run took him further and he soared across a wide gap with nothing to hold him or the civilian, weightless for a few moments and then landing soundly on the other side in a crouch.

Rena scowled slightly. Okay, if running was kind of dangerous, then that was definitely hazardous on a whole new level. Did he not know that he had a civilian in his arms? A non-superhero, very mortal civilian?

That was when the fox ears atop her head twitched and picked up noises, of Chat's laughter and himself bickering lightheartedly with the person, who was definitely a girl, in his arms. Bewildered, the fox moved closer and her eyes suddenly blew wide when the civilian turned their face and bluebell eyes caught her own.

That was precisely when Chat decided to jump high into the air and do a _barrel roll_ with Marinette in his arms, a yelp escaping from her as they spun in the air.

Any other day Alya would have been impressed. She would shamelessly admit that out of herself, Ladybug and Chat Noir, it was the cat that was the most ridiculously talented in the most random areas, parkour included. His elegant, fancy yet precise and deadly fighting style was something that she would play on repeat if caught on video, just trying to figure out how the heck he managed to twist like that and where did he hit and how?!

But not today. As mentioned before, one of the many things that Alya was was a Mom Friend. She saw Marinette five stories off of the sidewalk building and had tunnel vision, cold murder for Chat Noir, magic enhancement be damned.

"CHAT NOIR!" Rena bellowed as she took a running leap. The superhero whirled around with Marinette in his arms, his pupils shrinking to a pinprick and cat ears flattening atop his head when he saw the fox headed at him two-hundred miles an hour. A small part of Rena wondered where this side of her was during battles, but it was drowned out by the Mom Friend chanting for murder.

In one fell swoop Rena had heroically saved Marinette from Chat Noir's clutches, putting every cliché romance film where the guy swept the girl off of her feet to shame. Rena set the girl down, who looked equal parts shocked and amused for some odd reason, and then whirled on Chat Noir, who was shamelessly giving her a megawatt grin.

"How _dare you!"_ Rena spat. Chat Noir was going to get the lecture of his lifetime before she left his corpse for the vultures. "Firstly, Marinette is a civilian-" for some reason the two people in her company snorted in unison. Rena paused and sent Chat a withering glare, causing him to stop. There was still a smirk on his face, though, and that infuriated her to no ends. "-doing stupid stunts like that with a civilian is a _death wish!_ Why would you do that?! If you make one slip up then you would be fine but they'd be dead meat! Not only that but if people see you then they'd assume you're playing favorites, and the last thing that ANY good superhero does is let everyone know they have a favorite, even if they happen to have a favorite! AND rumors can easily spread and- what the _hell_ is so funny?!" Rena cut off, irritated, as Chat Noir and Marinette were full out laughing. Chat Noir, sure, he could be a terribly stubborn ass sometimes, but he was a fellow hero. Shouldn't Marinette, a civilian, be in awe, or maybe in shock, or both?

Rena's eyes narrowed. Actually, just a minute ago it looked like she was comfortably bickering with Chat Noir as he did death-defying tricks five stories above the ground. She looked awfully familiar with something that no ordinary person should have to experience. In fact, the only reason Marinette may have let out a yelp may have been not because Chat Noir was flipping, but because she was caught off guard at seeing Rena Rouge. Could it mean…?

"Are you two dating?" Rena blurted. They both choked on their spit. "Or, at the very least, you must have regular rendezvouses," Rena tacked on, managing to sound equally innocent and dry.

After an embarrassingly long minute of them just coughing and making eye contact and sputtering on words that weren't fully formed, and Rena looking completely unimpressed, Marinette finally uttered out, "No!"

"Mhm." Inside, Alya was a tiny bit hurt. Had _neither_ of them thought to tell her? She was Marinette's best friend as Alya, and Chat Noir's teammate as Rena Rouge, so at least one of them should have told her. But they didn't.

"Believe me, Al-uh, Rena!" Marinette squeaked. Rena and Chat sent a confused look to Marinette. "We do regularly, well, hang out-but- they're not like _rendezvouses,_ like romantic ones anyways, they're just like- we watch movies and stuff- he threw popcorn in my hair last time!" Marinette babbled. "There's nothing romantic about popcorn in hair! In fact it took forever to wash out. It sucked!"

"You painted my claws when I wasn't looking!" Chat accusingly cried out. "You think getting popcorn out of hair sucks compared to that?!"

"You could smell the nail polish, I know you could!" Marinette snapped back. "Don't pretend like you didn't want it just for pity cookies 'cause I already told you no!"

"You painted them without my consent!"

"Yeah well-"

"Ahem," Rena cleared her throat, causing them to halt in their argument. Marinette turned an interesting shade of pink out of embarrassment. "Well, you guys are definitely used to each other, it looks like. I suppose the tricks are fine, if Marinette is fine with it?" Rena sent a disbelieving glance at Marinette, who wouldn't meet her eyes. "I guess that's a yes. But-" Rena suddenly stepped right up to Chat, staring into his eyes. "If I see so much as a scratch on Marinette I'm skinning you alive. Got it?"

Chat gulped. "Y-yes, Ma'am!"

"Well, sorry for interrupting your date-not-date," Rena smirked, watching in satisfaction as the whole choking fiasco started up again. "I'll be going now. Bye!" Rena watched them out of the corner of her eye as she jumped away, two awkward teens sputtering after her and Marinette shaking her fist and Chat Noir rubbing the back of his neck.

Alya considered herself many things. Some of the things not mentioned before were cloud-watcher and sky-watcher. Maybe it was a stretch to consider herself those things, but she was sure normal people didn't notice colors the way she did. And she supposed she was a people watcher too- because she could see right through the colors of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chat Noir to Ladybug and Adrien Agreste.

 **Hmm… does this count for Marichat May?**


	59. Chapter 59

Marinette had imagined for the defeat of Hawkmoth to go down in a multitude of ways. Having an overactive imagination, she was left with no shortage of possibilities, ranging from dramatic showdowns (which she was too embarrassed of thinking about that she didn't dare vocalize to Tikki) to positively stupid blips that would send the brooch clattering at her feet in a mishap (which she was also embarrassed about). As more people joined her and Chat Noir, and eventually it wasn't just Ladybug and Chat Noir but instead the new Team Miraculous, she thought of new scenarios, new possibilities with their new teammates added into the formula. None of them were simple—all were complicated. Because honestly, if it was taking five Miraculouses and three years to fight one man, forget his peacock helper, the solution _had_ to be complicated. Right?

So imagine not only her surprise, but also Rena Rouge's, Carapace's, and Queen Bee's when they all get a ring from Chat Noir on their respective weapons. It's afternoon, it's time for patrol, and they've all been waiting for Chat Noir to arrive for the last fifteen minutes with no small amount of irritation. Which is odd, because he's usually the first one to arrive at their meeting spot, but they brush it off and wait. Just five more minutes. Just five more. Two more… let's give him one more minute…

They each pick up and see all of their faces displayed on their screens. It's a group video call. For some reason Chat Noir is in a place so dark that only his glowing eyes are visible.

"Chat Noir!" Queen Bee is the first one to fire off, not giving much care towards his odd call. "Where have you _been?_ Get your mangy coat over here before we leave without you!"

"What Bee means is," Carapace hastily fills in, "We're wondering what took you so long?"

"And where are you?" Rena adds. "Why is it so dark?"

Ladybug is the only one who stares at her screen wordlessly. She knows Chat is looking right into his camera, so he's not looking directly at her. But it still feels like his eyes are boring into hers.

Something is wrong, she realizes with a dreadful feeling pooling in her stomach. Something is very, very wrong, for Chat to have not made a dumb pun or smiled or—something. Anything other than those narrowed eyes. They're giving her the chills.

"Chat?" She finally finds her voice. "What's happening?"

This seems to shake him out of whatever trance he was in, because the green eyes blink a few times before opening up again, a little bit wider than before. There is the sound of him inhaling a little, and Ladybug can imagine that he's trying to think of a way to say something because she's known him long enough to know he will inhale a little just like that before he says something particular…

What he says next throws them all off the loop, even Ladybug, who was expecting something serious.

"I have Hawkmoth. I sent you my coordinates." His eyes disappear and a flashing red phone appears on their screens. Call ended.

They're just standing there on a rooftop in the afternoon. The sun is warm. There is a faint smattering of clouds in the air. From the park just a block over the sound of children clearly carries through right as a breeze blows through the air.

"What…" Ladybug is the first to breathe. Somehow her thumb navigates to the map where Chat's signature paw-print is blinking, indicating his current location.

"What." She snaps out of the reverie and takes a second to stare at his blinking print. Then his words process in her mind again for the third time. _I found Hawkmoth._ "THE SHIT?!"

Without another word she leaping off of the rooftop and barely avoids slamming into a pole. She's not using her yoyo to swing around, because her eyes are transfixed on the map as she runs. Behind her she can hear her teammates moving into motion but doesn't really care, all she knows is that she needs to get to her partner. Now. She's so focused on running that she doesn't even wonder _how_ did he find Hawkmoth? Was he okay?

The map leads her around parts of Paris where they always patrol. As she finds herself nearing Chat's print, she can't help but be frustrated. How could Hawkmoth be here? It was where they always looked. Chat wasn't pulling their tails, was he…?

She remembered the look in his eyes, his curt tone and immediately dismissed the idea. No way.

Eventually though she finds herself in front of a building at the very outskirts of the city, in a row of identical houses just like it pressed up against more homes right behind it. It's not something that stands out. In fact, it's mediocre and blends right in. Her map tells her that Chat is inside.

Her teammates catch up to her and land besides her, looking up at the building in the same levels of disbelief as she did.

"This place?" Bee wrinkles her nose. "This is it? I was expecting something more…"

She doesn't have to say the rest. All of them were maybe, sort of expecting something more… dramatic. Old. Dingy. Decidedly more supervillain-y. Not an average beige townhouse. Except it didn't seem that average, because she couldn't see a single window…

Ladybug goes up and tries the door. As they all expected, it was locked. The door on the side when they round the corner of the house is locked, too. They could have easily broken in, except Rena suddenly grabs Ladybug's arm when she's rearing her yoyo back. Already snappish and worried, Ladybug shoots a glare at Rena only to see that the girl is pointing at something on the wall.

An arrow facing upwards was scratched into the surface. The immediate thought was Chat and his claws.

The four of them haul themselves up to the roof of the building and look around for a few seconds before Carapace peeks over the edge across from the gray wall and lets out a short gasp. When the other three join him they all stare down at the edges of a _massive_ window, intricate and swirling designs vaguely making out a… a butterfly. What's weirder is that the inside can't be seen when they lean over and try to look through it.

Well. There's the supervillain-y aspect of the place.

Ladybug doesn't hesitate in slamming her yoyo into the glass, unflinching as it shatters and sprays to the ground in shards and bits. Her hit opens up a gaping, jagged hole in the window and she immediately slips through with her teammates right behind her, all of them on their guard.

It takes them time for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. None of them except Chat has night vision, after all. The window provides a large slat of daylight to stream in, but it only hits a select part of the room (which is much larger on the inside than it looks on the outside) which is empty. The only other thing that they can see are white butterflies flapping around, luminescent in the dark.

Uninfected akumas.

Ladybug hesitantly creeps forward, her arms raised, and calls out, "Chat?"

A man walks to the center of the room where the light hits. He is staggeringly tall and wears a dark purple suit, a silver full-face mask stretched over his whole head. He is far creepier in person than as a giant, floating head made of butterflies on the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug immediately stiffens up and her hand immediately goes to her yoyo for defense, only to realize that a) he is unarmed, and b) Chat is leading him forward with his baton pressed to the small of his back.

"Sit," Chat says flatly, and Hawkmoth silently obeys. Team Miraculous watches, agog.

"Chat, what—" Ladybug splutters. "What's going… on…" She trails off when she catches sight of his face in the light, staring down at Hawkmoth with his baton still extended.

Somehow he looks livid, sorrowful and guilty at the same time. It makes Ladybug's eyes widen.

"Hey—"

"He won't attack," Chat says. His voice is still that same monotone and it hurts Ladybug to hear him like this, so unlike his usual expressive and stupidly brash self. "I took his cane. You can take his brooch." Chat removes his baton from Hawkmoth's back and his team gives a start when they realize he's making to leave.

"Wait!" Carapace yelps. "Shouldn't you stay? I mean, you found him and everything…"

Chat stops and turns a little to look at Carapace before turning fully. He gives the sitting man on the floor a long look. Hawkmoth doesn't even look up, just keeps his head dipped.

"I don't want to see his face," is all Chat spits before leaping out the window. His teammates are left staring after him, dazed and perturbed.

They all hated Hawkmoth. Well, everyone hated Hawkmoth. But as heroes who were pulled out of their daily lives at every inconvenience to mop up Hawkmoth's deliberate problems, they had a special kind of hate for the man. Yet Chat's seemed different from even that. It seemed… personal? He couldn't even look the man in the face. The man they'd been searching for, for three whole years now, and he'd just found him singlehandedly… and left him with the rest of the team. To go off to who knows where.

Ladybug suddenly jolts. What was she doing here? While she and her other three teammates were standing here confused with their sworn enemy, or at least their first one, Chat had run off somewhere. And Chat was decidedly not okay.

Ladybug turns tail and begins hauling herself out the window.

"Why are you running off too?!" Rena calls. Ladybug looks back in urgency.

"You three can handle it. I'm finding Chat." Without another word she jumps out of the window and tries to climb up to a higher rooftop. When she scans her surroundings, Chat is nowhere to be seen. He's always been fast.

Ladybug gasps. He must be at the Eiffel Tower. That was their favorite spot and he once told her that the sight of Paris calmed him.

Without fanfare Ladybug shoots off towards the tower, squinting up at it she tries to look for the figure of her partner. She can't see much at all. The Tower is too high and she needs to climb all the way up… assuming he's at the top. If he's hiding out on the rungs somewhere, it'll be harder to scope him out because his suit is pure black and would blend into the shadows set by the lowering sun. With a small grumble, Ladybug wishes not for the first time that she wasn't the one with the fire-hydrant colored suit.

Luckily for her, he's sitting in the exact spot he always sits in when she reaches the top. She wastes no time in rushing over, but slows down as she reaches his side, unsure.

"Um…" Deciding on a course of actions, Ladybug sits down next to him—not too close, but close enough that he can talk. Or lean on her shoulder if he needs to. Or something. She looks down and notices he isn't swinging his legs like he usually does. For some reason this detail sends a stab of pain through her chest.

"If you want to talk, I'm here." Good. That was good. Not forceful, but still inviting.

She deflates a little when Chat doesn't say anything. He doesn't even look at her. His eyes are trained on some distant figure in the Parisian layout and she's not even sure if he's heard her. She doesn't want to sound nagging by repeating herself or prodding for his attention, but she doesn't leave either because that'd be a crud move and it'd make her feel like crud, too. Not to mention that the burning questions of hers that are begging to be asked are nasty, impatient little things that just want attention already.

She almost jumps when he says something a long seven minutes of silence later.

"What would you do if someone who you thought loved you was just using you?"

"Uh?"

"Like a parental love," Chat clarifies. "Well, I guess any type of love would work, actually…"

Actually, she isn't sitting there with her mouth open like some dead fish because she didn't hear him right. She's looking like that because she's never even thought of anybody in her life like that. And she can't, really, like _at all._ Any thoughts of her mom or dad or Alya or, literally like anybody, turning out to just have been using her the whole time she thought they had a bond, seemed so ridiculous. She doesn't even know where she could start imagining something like that.

"U—um," Ladybug stutters dumbly. "I'm… I don't really know? Nobody in my life is… I mean, they're all genuine people. They really _do_ care. So if it was all a lie, then I guess…" she ponders. "I'd probably be in shock?" Biggest understatement of the century, seeing as only thinking about it made her a zombie. Ladybug wasn't supposed to have any weaknesses, but she thought that something like that would defeat her better than any Hawkmoth or Mayura ever could.

"Shock," Chat repeats. Ladybug nods silently. Something is still off about Chat. It's not that he isn't swinging his legs, or that he's not smiling or that his eyes are still slightly narrowed. He just feels… different.

Maybe he is in shock.

"Well, My Lady." Ladybug gives a start at the familiar nickname and looks at Chat hopefully. He is smiling at her with all of his pearly whites on display. But instead of feeling the familiar warmth in her chest, she feels chills run down her spine. His smile is fake. _He_ is fake. There's white bleeding in from the edges of his mask and Ladybug can't even utter a single word as his grin grows wider and his eyes turn pinkish red. She can't even move when he brings a hand forward and brushes one of her earrings. This isn't Chat. This is somebody else. Why can't she move? This is one of those paralysis dreams. It has to be.

"You're in for a world of surprise, then." Maybe _she_ is in shock.

She had been busy imagining Hawkmoth's defeat when she should have had an eye out for her own.

 **Hello all! Or maybe I should say goodbye. Well, I'm sure there's not many of you left. This is the last chapter of Snippets. Hohoho, sorta dark ending, aren't we? I guess you already interpreted it, but Chat Noir teamed up with Hawkmoth and they faked his defeat. Chat took Ladybug's earrings, and the other three, well. :)**

 **I am making a new account on FF and also A03. But I won't say the name. I kind of want to start fresh here. No more carnatiously :( there are things on this account that haunt me LMAO. I've written out a whole, chaptered story for the other account to publish so maybe if it gets good I'll say the name here? ;) Dunno, really.**

 **Continuation of Snow White with the Blue Eyes and The Square (and the tangled threads in between) is tentative. Dunno anymore, lads. But thank you for a very nice ride on this here account. Twelve year old me was thrilled.**


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